Emaar appoints new chairman as Mohamed Alabbar takes on role of MD

Dubai-based Emaar Properties has named Jamal Bin Theniyah as chairman of the board of directors as Mohamed Alabbar takes on the role of managing director.

“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, Mohamed Alabbar will take the senior most executive position in the company as a managing director,” a statement by the company read.

Emaar confirmed that Alabbar will continue to represent it in all public forums.

“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,” the company added.

In a filing to Dubai Financial Market, the company said that Mohamed Alabbar will be devoted to the executive management matters and day-to-day affairs of Emaar, citing a regulation restriction that precludes combining the positions of chairman and executives.

“The company would like to disclose that – upon the request of the chairman and approval of the board of directors and their diligence to comply with the provisions of article (7) (b) of the Governance Code applicable to public joint stock companies attached to the decision of the chairman of the Securities and Commodities Authority number 3/RM of 2020 which prohibits combining the position of chairman of the Board of Directors and any executive position in the company – it was resolved that Mohamed Ali Alabbar, chairman of the Board of Directors and founder of Emaar, be devoted to the executive management matters and the day to day affairs of Emaar,” the bourse filing read.

“In this context, the board resolved at its meeting dated December 10, 2020 to elect Mohamed Ali Alabbar as managing director of the company, and to elect Jamal Bin Theniyah as chairman of the board of directors and Ahmed Jawa as vice-chairman,” it added.

In July, Emaar suspended the use of all job titles across the company as part of measures aimed at focusing on ‘talent not titles’.

Read: Dubai’s Emaar removes all job titles, with Alabbar also dropping his title of chairman

In related company news, Emaar Properties recorded Dhs2.43bn in net profit for the first nine months of 2020, slumping 45 per cent from Dhs4.44bn recorded during a year-earlier period.

Read more: Dubai’s Emaar Properties posts 45% slump in net profit for Q1-Q3 2020

Meanwhile, the developer’s revenue figures for Q1-Q3 2020 totaled Dhs13.37bn, down 24.1 per cent from Dhs17.63bn in the same period last year.