The Coforge shares have been under severe selling pressure after two of its top management quit in quick succession. The company’s board held a call with investors and analysts and clarified that the matter was handled in good faith with no dissent or ongoing concern for the company. All seven remaining board members joined the call to respond to questions.
CEO Sudhir Singh said the board continues to hold the two former directors in high regard. The board reassured analysts that there was no impact on operations or financials.
What Coforge told investors
Board member John Spade said KPMG’s internal audit, which began in August, found discrepancies between board/NRC records and the actual evaluation report. The report showed the chairman had received the lowest performance rating, which was not disclosed to the board by the NRC chair or chairman.
The remaining seven directors sought explanations, after which the two directors resigned. Spade stressed the resignations followed the audit findings.
Audit committee chair Anil Chanana said he had expanded the audit scope earlier this year to strengthen oversight.
Interim chair Vivek Sharma said Egon Zehnder has been appointed to find two new independent directors. He will not seek the permanent chair role. NRC chair Beth Boucher defended Sharma’s appointment and said the board remains aligned on strategy, with major decisions taken unanimously.
CFO Saurabh Goyal said there is no impact on financial reporting or outlook, with FY27 guidance unchanged, including a 20.5–21% consolidated EBITDA margin target.
Why the Coforge directors quit
Independent director DK Singh stepped down as chairperson of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee on September 11. His resignation came a day after former chairman OP Bhatt also quit the board. Both moves followed a KPMG internal audit that found gaps in how the board’s evaluation scores had been reported.
According to the company’s exchange filing, the audit found that Bhatt’s evaluation scores were shared with Singh in his capacity as NRC chair, but were not passed on to the rest of the board. Because the underlying report was available only to the chairman and the NRC chair, the remaining directors sought explanations from just these two.
The filing had also pushed back on any suggestion of discord within the board. It described claims of tension between independent and executive directors as unfounded and said the allegation appeared to be an afterthought.
Singh had accepted a fresh five-year term on the board in February 2026, after completing an earlier two-year term. In his resignation letter, he said current circumstances could make it difficult to exercise the independent judgement he believes is necessary to act in shareholders’ interests.
Jefferies on Coforge: Exits more of a conduct issue than governance
Jefferies, which maintains a Buy rating and a price target of Rs 2,040, characterised the board’s explanation as reframing the issue. According to the international brokerage house, the firm said the clarification suggests the matter is less about governance and more about the conduct of the departing directors, and that it sees limited impact on Coforge’s growth strategy.
The brokerage also flagged that after a roughly 70% rally in the stock over six months, some near-term consolidation would be unsurprising and said any sharp weakness should be seen as a buying opportunity.
Coforge: Nuvama sees no impact on financials
As per Nuvama’s report dated September 9 after the Chairman’s exit. it sees no read-through to the company’s financial reporting or business operations, and continues to rank Coforge as its top pick in the IT services sector, pointing to the stock’s valuation discount versus peers like Persistent.
Both brokerages emphasised management’s reiteration of FY27 guidance, including the 20.5–21% EBITDA margin target, as evidence the episode is contained to governance process rather than substance.
About Coforge
Coforge is a global digital services and solutions provider that combines AI engineering with deep industry expertise to serve enterprises across sectors including banking and financial services, insurance, travel, healthcare and life sciences, the public sector, and retail and hospitality. The company says it works with more than 45,000 professionals worldwide, with a presence spanning multiple countries and delivery centres. Headquartered in Greater Noida, India, Coforge is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India.
Coforge share price
Coforge’s share price has declined 3.91% in intraday trade on September 15. The company’s share price was up 1.05% in the past month. Furthermore, Coforge’s share price has been up 2.5% in the past year.