Dubai's Arabtec Holding appoints new chairman

Arabtec Holding, Dubai’s largest builder by market value, said Tuesday its board had appointed Ibrahim Belselah as its chairman. Belselah replaces Sheikh Butti bin Maktoum bin Juma Al Maktoum who resigned from the post, Arabtec said in a statement on Dubai's bourse website. The board also accepted the resignation of member Sheikh Sultan bin Saqr Al Qassimi, the statement said.Arabtec saw its profits fall by 74 percent in the second quarter as general and administrative expenses soared. The Dubai firm said made a net profit of AED28.9m ($7.9m) for the three months ending June 30, down from AED11.1m in the year-earlier period, as expenses nearly doubled to AED94.1m. The company currently has a backlog of projects worth around AED15bn ($4.08bn) in all of its markets by the end of the year, but it is increasingly looking to expand overseas to diversify away from Dubai's once-booming property sector, which has been blighted by oversupply and a lack of demand, with developers slowing or cancelling projects. Arabtec said in June it would expand its Saudi workforce to 25,000 as it hopes to make the Gulf state its largest market. The company is also bidding for work in Qatar, as the tiny Gulf country prepares infrastructure for the soccer World Cup in 2022.