Arabtec CFO responds to rumours
Trading soared following “announcement” of a major project
Arabtec CFO Zaid Makhzouni has responded to rumours that saw the firm’s shares rocket earlier this week.
It was reported on November 13 that a “new major contract” had been awarded to the multi-disciplinary conglomerate.
“Yesterday, for some reason, we were just over 50% of the whole market trading. There were rumours, which are incorrect and I basically had to explain to the people that if there is anything to declare to the market, we will” Makhzouni told The Big Project, adding that he through the rumours were “absolutely funny and ridiculous”.
Arabtec’s current project backlog stands at “around AED 12-16 billion” for the coming year, including of “acquiring new projects and delivering projects”, according to Makhzouni. Adding that while Arabtec is looking to expand “at some stage” globally, no official announcements have been made for new projects recently.
“It’s a very healthy margin of backlog in the sense of that it’s probably about two and a half years of work. But it doesn’t work in that sense, because analysts assume you should be building a certain amount per month. Some projects are one year some projects are five years, so it’s not a case of taking that number alone. We give them these breakdowns to help them come to a more logical scientific conclusion,” Makhzouni continues, adding that he has encountered many problems with the press in the past.
“They draw their conclusions on assumptions that in some cases are not true and they can just as easily verify just by asking,” he adds.
The full interview with Zaid Makhzouni will be printed in December issue of The Big Project.
