Abu Dhabi's Aldar CFO Shafqat Ali Malik resigns

The Chief Financial Officer of Aldar Properties, Shafqat Ali Malik, has resigned from his post in a bid “to pursure other opportunities”, the company said Thursday. The Abu Dhabi developer, which has recruited three different chief executives in four years, is seeking a replacement for Malik, who will leave the firm at the end of this month, officials said in a statement to Abu Dhabi bourse. Aldar, Abu Dhabi’s biggest property developer, is building thousands of homes and offices across the UAE capital. In January, the state-controlled firm sold assets including a Ferrari theme park and convertible bonds to the government for AED19.2bn ($5.23bn) to pay off its debt. Aldar was among a number of property firms which struggled to stay afloat in the wake of the recession, which saw property prices in neighbouring Dubai plummet 60 percent, and investors flee the market as funding dried up. The firm recorded profits of AED127.3m in the second quarter of the year, following a loss of AED475.3m in 2010. Shares prices have also fallen 51 percent in 2011, compared with a 8.3 percent drop in the benchmark ADX General Index.