Drake & Scull International (DSI) appointed a former managing director of its mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP), and water and power businesses, as its newest chief executive officer (CEO), the latest senior management change at the loss-hit contractor, Construction Week reports.
According to a Dubai Financial Market (DFM) filing, DSI’s board of directors appointed Tawfiq Abu Soud in the role, effective 23 January, 2019, assuming the responsibility of leading DSI’s operations from his predecessor, Yousef Al Mulla.
Abu Soud was managing director for DSI’s MEP and Water and Power subsidiaries for 14 years between 1997 and 2014, according to his LinkedIn profile.
He also served for a year as CEO of Arabtec Subsidiaries from December 2014, working a stint also as CEO of Dubai-based ADC Energy Systems between February 2016 and February 2018.
DSI said its new top boss “has a stellar record of accomplishment of inspirational leadership and has more than 35 years’ experience in delivering consistent results, leading global business expansion, and securing robust business pipelines”.
The news comes just over a month after Al Mulla resigned as group CEO. The same time saw Abulla Atatreh resign as chairman, remaining however on the contractor’s board.
The management reshuffle also comes amid ongoing restructuring efforts to return DSI to profitability.
The contractor created a four-member committee in October 2018 to manage the next phase of its restructuring efforts. The announcement came after its board agreed in the same month to not dissolve the business.
According to figures from H1 2018, DSI’s net loss stood at $49.8m (AED183m) during the period. The amount marks its a decline in profitability that was mainly attributed to cost overruns for non-performing subsidiaries in secondary markets.
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