Arabtec adopts new risk management plan

The Dubai-listed contractor's chief executive Hamish Tyrwhitt says the board supports the plan.

Arabtec has struggled to cut huge costs acquired during a rapid expansion two years earlier. Reem Mohammed / The National

Arabtec has said that it is adopting a new risk management plan.

In a statement to the Dubai Financial Market on Tuesday morning, the Arabtec chief executive Hamish Tyrwhitt said that the company had supported a new group-wide enterprise risk management plan at its board meeting on Monday.

Arabtec shares were suspended on Monday as the company’s board of directors met to approve 2016 accounts. The accounts are expected to be published to the Dubai Financial Market soon.

Shares in the UAE’s largest listed contractor were trading again on Tuesday, slipping 0.7 per cent in early trading before recovering to Dh1.45 by 12 noon.

Last year Arabtec reported an annual net loss of Dh2.34 billion on the back of a revenue of Dh7.25bn.

Arabtec has reported quarterly losses for the past two years as the company has struggled to cut huge costs acquired during a rapid expansion two years earlier.

During the tenure of the company’s former chief executive Hasan Ismaik between 2012 and 2014, Arabtec expanded rapidly, announcing an ambitious list of projects around the world amid plans to become one of the world’s 10 biggest builders – an exponential jump from its global ranking of 187 in 2012.

But in mid-2014 when Mr Ismaik left the company, Arabtec shares plummeted, forcing the company to get rid of hundreds of staff, including most of its senior executives.

In November, Arabtec appointed the Depa chief executive Hamish Tyrwhitt as its new chief executive as the company attempted to signal that it had turned a corner.

Follow The National's Business section on Twitter