Sheikh Maktoum says rightsizing programme is complete
Dubai-based investment bank Shuaa Capital said yesterday that it has concluded its rightsizing programme that saw it shed 60 per cent of its staff (excluding in its lending business) since the end of the first quarter last year.
"Excluding our lending business, the group has reduced its number of employees by 60 per cent since the end of Q1 2011," Sheikh Maktoum bin Hasher Al Maktoum, Executive Chairman of Shuaa Capital, said in a statement posted on the Dubai Financial Market website.
"I am pleased to say that we have now sized the business to the current market conditions and we have concluded our rightsizing programme," he highlighted.
The statement, posted prior to the announcement of Shuaa's Q1 2012 financial results to be published on May 7, 2012, provided an update on the business turnaround activities at the investment bank in the one-year period since Sheikh Maktoum was appointed Chairman of the beleaguered bank.
"We now have a clear direction, a significantly reduced cost base and a much higher degree of financial visibility," he noted.
He added that, post the cost-cutting drive that saw the bank shed a number of its staff, the company now has developed a comprehensive revenue enhancement programme to ensure the business reaches its full potential. "Colin Macdonald, our new Group CEO, and I will be driving this programme forward," Sheikh Maktoum said.
He pointed out that Shuaa has improved its monthly operating cash flow by 57 per cent year-on-year, and that the target for the first half of 2012 is a further reduction of 14 per cent, leading to a total improvement of operating cash flow of 71 per cent since the launch of the systematic rightsizing programme in 2011.
© Emirates 24|7 2012
