Arabtec Chairman, Founder To Leave

Update: Arabtec founder Riad Kamal reportedly told UAE daily The National that he had resigned from the company’s board 18 months ago, despite still appearing on its website and in its FY2014 accounts.

Arabtec chairman Khadem Al Qubaisi and founder Riad Kamal are set to leave the construction company after their names were omitted from a list of nominees for the board last Thursday.

The chairman was at the helm of Arabtec during last June’s market crash, following a dispute that led to the resignation of CEO Hasan Ismaik and the dismissal of much of the management team.

Arabtec stock fell from a high of Dh7.70 on May 14 to Dh2.61 by June 30.

Al Qubaisi, who is also MD of Abu Dhabi’s $250 billion asset investment fund IPIC and chairman of Arabtec’s 36.11 per cent stake holder Aabar, was not on the list of nominees for the company board submitted to the Dubai Financial Market.

Riad Kamal, who founded Arabtec in 1975, was also not on the list, although his departure was considered less surprising, following his resignation as CEO in February 2013.

“It’s clear the change concerning the chairman comes from a much higher place than the company’s board,” Wadah Al Taha, the Dubai-based chief investment officer of Al Zarooni Group, told Bloomberg. “There were no indications of this change and the new list includes unknown names.”

The bigger loss is Riad Kamal, Al Taha said. “He knew the company in and out and led it wisely before.”

Shareholders will elect a new board of directors from the nominees submitted last week, and the board will later vote to elect a new chairman from that group.

Last month Arabtec announced a Dhs94.4 million loss for Q4 2014, compared with a Dh122.1m profit for the period in 2013.

Total net profit attributable to shareholders for FY2014 was Dhs214.6 million, versus Dhs377.8 million in 2013.