(Yicai Global) June 30 -- Shares of Bank of Nanjing, in which French banking giant BNP Paribas is the largest investor, sank after the Chinese lender said its president had resigned from all positions at the bank for work-related reasons.

Bank of Nanjing [SHA: 601009] closed down 6.5 percent today at CNY10.42 (USD1.56), after earlier tumbling by the 10 percent exchange-imposed daily limit.

The bank’s board accepted Lin Jingran’s immediate resignation yesterday, the Nanjing-based commercial lender said in a statement the same day. Chairman Hu Shengrong will temporarily replace Lin, who will take up another undisclosed position at the bank. It did not elaborate on the reasons for his resignation.

Lin, 48, was named president of Bank of Nanjing in May 2020. Before that, he worked at Bank of China and China Minsheng Bank.

Paris-based BNP Paribas has a 16.4 percent stake in the regional bank, after hiking its ownership from nearly 15 percent last month. Its stake could reach “infinitely close to 20 percent,” a source close to Bank of Nanjing told Yicai Global last month. Other major investors also upped their interests in the bank earlier this year.

Net profit at the bank jumped 21 percent to CNY15.9 billion (USD2.4 billion) last year, according to its earnings report released in April. Operating revenue rose 19 percent to CNY40.9 billion.

In the first quarter of this year, net profit was CNY5 billion (USD746.6 million), up 22 percent from a year ago, while operating revenue rose 20 percent to CNY12.3 billion. The bank’s bad loan ratio fell 0.01 percentage point to 0.9 percent in the period.

Editor: Futura Costaglione