Mohamed Alabbar has stepped down from his role as chairman of Dubai-based Emaar Properties and will instead focus on the “executive management matters and day-to-day affairs” of the company he founded, as its managing director.
In a note to Dubai Financial Market (DFM), the company cited a regulatory rule barring combining the position of chairman and executives.
Jamal Bin Theniyah has been named chairman, while Ahmed Jawa becomes vice-chairman.
A statement from Emaar released on Sunday afternoon said: “According to the corporate governance requirements for listed companies in UAE, the chairman of the company cannot have executive responsibilities. This is to maintain independence of the chairman position.
“In view of the above requirement, Mr. Mohamed Alabbar will take the senior most executive position in the company as a managing director. He will continue to represent the company in all public forums.
“Mr Jamal Bin Thaniah will be the non-executive chairman of the company in order to comply with the UAE SCA’s regulation for the listed companies.”
Last week Dubai’s largest developer announced a temporary halt on launching new projects as a result of the global coronavirus pandemic, instead it will focus on delivering the more than 90 ongoing projects in its pipeline.
Financial results for Emaar Properties revealed last month showed net profit from January to September dropped from $1.2 billion in 2019 to $663 million this year. While, in the first ninth months of 2020, Emaar Development, the company’s build-to-sale real estate business in the UAE, reported a net profit of $370m.
Emaar Malls recorded a net profit of $160m for the period through to September 30, compared to $472m for the corresponding time last year.
Emaar’s hospitality & leisure, entertainment and commercial leasing business contributed $303m to the group’s total revenue. While Emaar’s international property development recorded revenue of $717m for the first nine months of the year, similar to the revenues recorded during the same period last year.
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