Saudi Arabia’s State miner has appointed its third chief executive officer in the past 13 months after the departure of Mosaed Al Ohali, according to people familiar with the matter.
Abdulaziz Al Harbi, a senior vice president at Saudi Arabian Mining, will replace Al Ohali as acting CEO until further notice, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. The company, also known as Maaden, may officially announce the resignation as soon as this week, they said.
Maaden’s stock rose 2.6% to an all-time high of 59.30 riyals on Sunday, before paring gains to 1.5% at 1:03 p.m. in Riyadh.
GOLD, COPPER DRIVE
Maaden is majority owned by the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund. It is a major part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plan to diversify the economy from oil by developing other natural resources such as gold, copper and ammonia. As part of that drive, the firm’s considering international acquisitions to boost its global footprint.
Ohali was named CEO in April last year, replacing former HSBC Holdings Plc banker Darren Davies, who had been in the role since mid-2018.
Maaden didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
It made a loss of 209 million riyals ($56 million) last year, which was smaller than analysts had estimated.
Al Ohali said in a February interview that the company aims to reduce its debt ratio this year and focus on keeping a cash cushion rather than returning money to shareholders. Maaden hasn’t paid any dividends since its listing in 2008.
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