Dubai contractor Drake & Scull appoints new group CEO

Dubai contractor Drake & Scull International (DSI) said it board has appointed Tawfiq Abu Soud as its new group CEO effective from January 23, 2019.

Abu Soud will assume the responsibility of leading DSI’s operations from Yousef Al Mulla, the company revealed in a bourse statement on Tuesday.

Abu Soud previously served as the CEO for ADC Energy Systems, CEO for Arabtec Subsidiaries, managing director for DSI’s MEP and Water and Power subsidiaries, and as the Operations director for Manco.

DSI, hit hard by the construction slowdown in the region, has seen several leadership changes as it seeks to restructure operations.

Yousef Al Mulla, who was appointed as group CEO in August 2018 – the second executive in less than five months – resigned from his post in December 2018.

The company also appointed Obaid Bin Touq as its new chairman late last year after Abdulla Atatreh resigned.

Read: Dubai’s Drake & Scull announces resignation of chairman, CEO

In its bourse statement on Tuesday, the company also confirmed that it is “concurrently coordinating with the external advisors and the Securities and Commodities Authority to call for a general assembly meeting in February 2019 to approve its organisational restructuring programme”.

Dubai-listed DSI appointed in November Trussbridge Advisors (DIFC), Allen & Overy, Al Tamimi & Company, and Deloitte as joint-advisors to work on a restructuring plan for the firm.

The firm, which posted a Dhs497m ($119.3m) loss in the third quarter, saw its accumulated losses reach more than Dhs1.1bn, resulting in net liabilities of Dhs401.1m at the end of the period.

Read: Dubai’s Drake & Scull appoints advisors after posting Dhs500m Q3 loss

An earlier restructuring in 2017 saw three quarters of its share capital wiped out to expunge losses of Dhs1.7bn, as well as a Dhs500m injection of capital from shareholder Tabarak Investment.

In October, shareholders also voted to allow the company to continue as a going concern, despite DSI posting heavy losses in the last few years.

Read: Dubai’s Drake and Scull shareholders decide not to dissolve the company