Wednesday, Jul 04, 2012
(This story was originally published Tuesday)
--Six new board members also appointed
--Changes mark continuance of a wider management reshuffle, analysts say
By Shereen El Gazzar
Of ZAWYA DOW JONES
DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--As part of its latest senior management rejig, Emirates Telecommunications Corp. (ETISALAT.AD), or Etisalat, Tuesday named Eissa Mohamed Al Suwaidi as its new chairman, replacing the long serving Mohammed Hassan Omran, a move aimed at reenergizing the U.A.E.'s number one telco by subscribers.
Al Suwaidi, in addition to his new appointment, serves as an executive director at Abu Dhabi Investment Council. He is also a director at Abu Dhabi National Oil Company for Distribution, International Petroleum Investment Company, Abu Dhabi Fund for Development and Emirates Investment Authority, Etisalat said in an emailed statement.
The telco added that six new members were also appointed to the Etisalat board.
The latest changes mark the continuance of a wider management reshuffle inside the telecom operator. In February, Etisalat named Saleh Al Abdooli as chief executive officer for Etisalat in the U.A.E. and Saeed Al Hamli as CEO of Etisalat Egypt.
And in December, Etisalat appointed Serkan Okandan, a former Turkcell executive with experience in mergers and acquisitions, as its new group chief financial officer. The company had also appointed Ahmad Julfar as group CEO in August 2011.
The news is not surprising, said one Dubai-based analyst at an international bank, while noting that Omran was the key man behind Etisalat's decisions. Omran joined Etisalat in 1986 and took the role of the company's chairman in 2005.
"In the context of a full management and board reshuffling it is a decision that just completes the process. We will see now if Etisalat continues to be a board-driven company, or, as suggested lately, if senior management will play a more important role in the decision-making process and fixing the company's future strategy," he said.
The telco's local operations remain under pressure after it lost its monopoly to Du, its local competitor. Etisalat's U.A.E. operations represent around 70% of its overall revenues.
Matthew Reed, a senior analyst at Informa Telecoms and Media, said that the appointment of the new chairman comes at a time when Etisalat is being adversely affected by competition in its home market and has encountered some reverses, as well as some successes, in its international expansion plans.
Etisalat shares last traded flat at AED9.20 Tuesday.
-By Shereen El Gazzar and Leila Hatoum, Dow Jones Newswires, +9714 446 1684 shereen.elgazzar@dowjones.com; Twitter: @ZDJnews
Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Co.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
04-07-12 0342GMT