Coforge says Chairman resignation not related to financials, guidance intact; stock reacts

With Coforge Ltd shares falling 7 per cent in Wednesday's trade following  Chairman Om Prakash Bhatt's resignation, Coforge has come out with a stock exchange filing saying the matter was related to board evaluation exercise conducted in March and April 2026 and does not, in any way, relate to the company's financial statements or financial reporting or to any financial matters of the company.

"Such matters solely relate to the Board Evaluation Exercise which is a regulatory requirement," Coforge said.

Coforge said such matters do not have any bearing on the company's operations, business performance and near-term, medium-term or long-term stated guidance.

Coforge said it made the clarification to avoid any misunderstanding that the matters relating to the board evaluation exercise have any connection with the company’s financial performance, financial reporting or business operations.

"The board and the management team continues to support the Company in its business and operations as usual, and the Company remains focused on executing its business and growth plans," Coforge said.

Coforge shares fell 6.57 per cent to open at Rs 1,821 apiece. Later, it cut losses and was trading at Rs 1,836.90, down 5.76 per cent.

Bhatt in his resignation letter had earlier said continuing on the board while there remains a disagreement considering the characteristics of his "good faith actions in the board evaluation process" would not be conducive to the effective functioning.

"The board wishes to thank Mr. Bhatt for his services," Coforge said earlier, saying he also ceases to be member of the Committees of the Company with immediate effect.

Coforge said in its audit review identified certain concerns in relation to the manner in which the Board Evaluation Report (BER) had been dealt with and presented to the board, including certain material information contained in or relating to the BER and the performance of the Chairman had not been fully disclosed to the board when the BER was presented.

Coforge said the board considered it important to clarify that the Chairman's resignation followed the concerns identified in the internal audit review and the subsequent process undertaken by the board to seek and consider his explanation in relation to those concerns.

In his resignation letter, Bhatt said he did not took the decision lightly. "I have served the company as an Independent Director and Chairman with a strong sense of responsibility and have always sought to discharge my duties independently, objectively and in the best interests of the Company and all its shareholders. My record will reflect my efforts to maintain an appropriate balance between the interests of shareholders, management and the company," he said.

Vivek Sharma, Non-Executive Independent Director, has been appointed as interim Chairperson of the company till January 31, 2027.