Dubai contractor Arabtec appoints new acting CFO amidst management reshuffle

Dubai-based contractor Arabtec Holding has appointed Adel Al Wahedi as the acting group chief financial officer to replace Peter Pollard, who has been made the group CEO.

Al Wahedi was previously at Abu Dhabi Ports Company, before which he served as the CFO of Petrofac Emirates, Mubadala Petroleum and the deputy CFO of Etisalat Misr.

Pollard replaced Hamish Tyrwhitt, who stepped down from his role as group CEO in May.

Read: Dubai contractor Arabtec CEO resigns

“In 2019, Arabtec will continue to focus on the collection of legacy receivables, shortening payment cycles, improving working capital and strengthening the balance sheet which includes debt refinancing to provide a sustainable platform for Arabtec’s future growth,” the company said in a bourse statement.

Pollard said: “We will continue to diversify our backlog into infrastructure and industrial sectors with geographic focus on UAE, KSA, Egypt, Bahrain and Kuwait to create value for our stakeholders.”

Arabtec reported a 49.5 per cent drop in its first quarter net profit to reach Dhs31.8m, down from Dhs63m in Q1 2018.

Revenues during the quarter fell by over 16 per cent to Dhs2bn, while the group’s project backlog stood at Dhs14.8bn.

The company said it experienced a contraction in margins year on year during Q1, attributable to lower revenue from a slowdown in awards in the construction sector coupled with a number of legacy projects closing out in the coming months.

The group also recognised an Dhs7.8m loss on its investment in Depa, it said.