Mumbai: The chief financial officer of Infosys has tendered his resignation in a surprise move that industry watchers say raises questions about the stability at the country's second largest IT services firm.

The board of the Bangalore-based company said in a stock exchange filing on Saturday that it had accepted the resignation of CFO M.D. Ranganath, appointed to the post in 2015. The CFO's exit comes within seven months of Infosys appointing Salil Parekh as the new chief executive officer.

Ranganath, popularly known as Ranga, will continue as CFO till November 16, Infosys said, adding that its board will immediately commence the search for a new CFO.

Reports suggest that Jayesh Sanghrajka, deputy CFO at Infosys, could succeed Ranganath although this could not be independently confirmed with the company.

Surprise move

Market watchers, however, termed the development as "highly surprising".

"This is highly surprising given that one expected senior level churn at Infosys to have stabilised by now. Unfortunately, it may give rise to speculation, especially as the departure is without transition," Shriram Subramanian, founder and MD of InGovern Research Services, told PTI.

Subramanian added that the Infosys board would have to rush to assuage investors, who may be concerned in the wake of the past issues faced by the company.

According to another industry executive, Ranganath's exit could raise concerns as he was seen as a stabilising factor, especially among investors, given his long innings, including the stormy phase.

Infosys last year witnessed a public row between founding executives and then-CEO Vishal Sikka over alleged corporate governance lapses. Sikka eventually exited the company in August 2017.

Parekh, a long-serving Capgemini executive, took over as Infosys CEO in January this year, at a time the board is chaired by a key co-founder, Nandan Nilekani.

Moving on

"After a successful career spanning 18 years in Infosys, including as CFO for the last three crucial years, I now plan to pursue professional opportunities in new areas," the Infosys filing quoted Ranganath as saying.

"I am grateful to Infosys for giving me the opportunity of serving as CFO of this global iconic company. I am proud that over the last three years, during a critical phase of the company, we delivered strong and consistent financial outcomes, maintained high standards of financial reporting, built a world class finance team, further strengthened the company's competitive position and thereby enhanced value to the stakeholders,'' he added.

Irreplaceable loss

Infosys co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy said the exit of Ranganath was an "irreplaceable loss" for the IT services firm.

Describing him as "one of the best CFOs" in India and a "rare individual", Murthy said Ranganath understood all key stakeholders, including clients, delivery teams, employee aspirations, finance, investors, governance, the law, as also "the role of an ethical business in building a better society".

"He is everything the idea of Infosys has always stood for," Murthy said.

"Over the last 18 years Ranga has played a pivotal role in the growth and success of Infosys. During his long stint in the company, I have seen him in a wide spectrum of leadership roles and in each of them he has delivered results with distinction. With Ranga as CFO, the company has in the last three crucial years, delivered a strong and resilient financial performance on multiple fronts, implemented an efficient capital allocation policy and earned the respect of all stakeholders through enhanced value creation," chairman Nandan Nilekani said.

His resignation comes in the backdrop of the firm reporting disappointing numbers for the June quarter. At a time when rivals such as TCS have recorded an uptick in the BFSI vertical, Infosys saw revenues from the financial services segment dropping 0.2 per cent in constant currency on a sequential basis.

Infosys had earlier seen the resignation of president Rajesh Krishnamurthy who joined French transportation major CMA CGM group. In June, Sangita Singh, its former executive vice-president, also quit and joined IBM to head its cloud consulting business.

Ranganath did not immediately respond to calls or text messages seeking comment.

During his tenure at Infosys, Ranganath had been part of the firm's leadership team and had played key roles in the areas of consulting, finance, strategy, risk management and M&A and had worked with the board and its committees in formulating and executing strategic priorities for the company.

Before joining Infosys, he had worked for eight years with ICICI Bank, where he held leadership responsibilities in treasury, planning and credit functions.