Arabtec Holding, a leading contractor for social and economic infrastructure, has appointed Adel Al Wahedi as the new acting Group Chief Financial Officer.

He brings a wealth of experience in capital restructuring, corporate finance along with his strong regional knowledge gained over the past 21 years.

Al Wahedi joins the group from Abu Dhabi Ports Company where he drove a major turnaround in the company’s financial performance over the last six years. Prior to that, he was the CFO of Petrofac Emirates, Mubadala Petroleum and the Deputy CFO of Etisalat Misr, a subsidiary of Etisalat UAE.

In his new role, Al Wahedi will play a vital role alongside Group CEO Peter Pollard to deliver on the group’s strategic priorities.

Arabtec said it 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 its future growth as a leading regional contractor.

Lauding the appointment, the Board of Directors said Pollard had been instrumental in
stabilising and preparing the business for growth over the past 2 years in line with the group’s
strategic roadmap.

"We would like to take this opportunity to thank Pollard, who has now been appointed the Group CEO, for his commitment as the Group CFO during a very challenging period and look forward to Al Wahedi working with Peter towards a successful and sustainable future for the Group and its shareholders," the board stated.

Pollard said: "I look forward to the journey ahead and to delivering on our key strategic priorities over the coming period underpinned by productivity, efficiency and innovation."

"We will continue to diversify our backlog into infrastructure and industrial sectors with geographic focus on UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and Kuwait to create value for our stakeholders," he added.-TradeArabia News Service