Aramex said its board has appointed Bashar Obeid as the new chief executive of the company. Reuters
Aramex said its board has appointed Bashar Obeid as the new chief executive of the company. Reuters

Aramex board appoints new chief executive replacing Hussein Hachem



The board of Aramex, the largest courier company in the Middle East, appointed Bashar Obeid as chief executive, replacing Hussein Hachem, who led the company for almost five years.

“Mr. Obeid joined Aramex in 1993 and since then, has been playing a major role in the development and growth of the company’s business,” Aramex said in a short statement to Dubai Financial Market (DFM), where its shares are traded. It did not give the reasons for the management change, saying the board made the decision in a November 19 meeting.

"We don’t expect any changes in terms of strategy in the short term," Nabil Rantisi, general manager Brokerage at Menacorp said, adding that he expects to see "more clarity" from Aramex regarding the management change.

"The company has been following its plans and the numbers have been improving over the past few quarters," he noted.

Mr Obeid joined the company as an accountant and rose within Aramex management ranks to become group chief financial officer. He was part of the team that oversaw the company’s public offering into the Nasdaq stock exchange and later on the DFM.

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Mr Hussein, an industry veteran had been instrumental in Aramex's growth across the GCC and beyond. He joined Aramex when the company restarted operations in Kuwait following the 1991 Gulf War and became general manager in the country, a post he later held in Sri Lanka and the UAE as well. In January 2013, he was promoted to CEO of Aramex following the retirement of the company's co-founder Fadi Ghandour.

Mr Hachem could not be reached for a comment on his mobile phone.

Aramex, which was established in 1982, has gone through ownership change last year when Mr Ghandour sold his 9.9 per cent stake in the company to Boston Ventures Corporation. Gulf investors including Emaar Properties chairman Mohammad Alabbar, reportedly were the buyers of the stake in the company.

Mr Alabbar is expanding his business interests in rapidly growing e-commerce sector, to tap demand from the affluent and digitally savvy population of the region. He is a co-investor along with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) in US$1 billion e-commerce platform, Noon.com.

Aramex has grown rapidly in the past three decades. The company ventured into e-commerce early on through its shop and ship service that contributes more than $100 million annually to its bottom line. The company has also expanded its freight businesses and is looking to widening its presence in emerging markets.

Aramex posted weaker-than-expected growth in third-quarter profit. The net income rose 13 per cent year-on-year to Dh81.6 million for the three-month period ended September 30. However, the profit increase came in below the forecast of Dh87.8m from the EFG-Hermes analyst Wafaa Baddour.

The company’s revenues rose 9 per cent to Dh1.14 billion, in line with EFG’s forecast, in spite of a hit from global currency fluctuations, especially with the Egyptian pound, which was devalued in November last year.

Company Profile 

Founder: Omar Onsi

Launched: 2018

Employees: 35

Financing stage: Seed round ($12 million)

Investors: B&Y, Phoenician Funds, M1 Group, Shorooq Partners

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4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
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Tuesday's fixtures
Group A
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
Iran v Uzbekistan, 8pm
N Korea v UAE, 10.15pm
How to wear a kandura

Dos

  • Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion 
  • Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
  • Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work 
  • Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester

Don’ts 

  • Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal 
  • Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Quick pearls of wisdom

Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”

Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.” 

'Gold'

Director:Anthony Hayes

Stars:Zaf Efron, Anthony Hayes

Rating:3/5

THE BIO

Bio Box

Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul

Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader

Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet

Favorite food: seafood

Favorite place to travel: Lebanon

Favorite movie: Braveheart

Dr Amal Khalid Alias revealed a recent case of a woman with daughters, who specifically wanted a boy.

A semen analysis of the father showed abnormal sperm so the couple required IVF.

Out of 21 eggs collected, six were unused leaving 15 suitable for IVF.

A specific procedure was used, called intracytoplasmic sperm injection where a single sperm cell is inserted into the egg.

On day three of the process, 14 embryos were biopsied for gender selection.

The next day, a pre-implantation genetic report revealed four normal male embryos, three female and seven abnormal samples.

Day five of the treatment saw two male embryos transferred to the patient.

The woman recorded a positive pregnancy test two weeks later. 

The specs: 2018 BMW R nineT Scrambler

Price, base / as tested Dh57,000

Engine 1,170cc air/oil-cooled flat twin four-stroke engine

Transmission Six-speed gearbox

Power 110hp) @ 7,750rpm

Torque 116Nm @ 6,000rpm

Fuel economy, combined 5.3L / 100km

Race card

5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m
5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m
6pm: Arabian Triple Crown Round-1 Listed (PA) Dh230,000 (T) 1,600m
6.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,400m
7pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 (T) 2,400m

Poacher
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Skewed figures

In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458. 

NO OTHER LAND

Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5

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Sanju

Produced: Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Rajkumar Hirani

Director: Rajkumar Hirani

Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, Paresh Rawal, Anushka Sharma, Manish’s Koirala, Dia Mirza, Sonam Kapoor, Jim Sarbh, Boman Irani

Rating: 3.5 stars

Virtuzone GCC Sixes

Date and venue Friday and Saturday, ICC Academy, Dubai Sports City

Time Matches start at 9am

Groups

A Blighty Ducks, Darjeeling Colts, Darjeeling Social, Dubai Wombats; B Darjeeling Veterans, Kuwait Casuals, Loose Cannons, Savannah Lions; Awali Taverners, Darjeeling, Dromedary, Darjeeling Good Eggs

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Test

Director: S Sashikanth

Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan

Star rating: 2/5

While you're here
Our legal consultant

Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

Innotech Profile

Date started: 2013

Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari

Based: Muscat, Oman

Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies

Size: 15 full-time employees

Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing 

Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now. 

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BRIEF SCORES

England 353 and 313-8 dec
(B Stokes 112, A Cook 88; M Morkel 3-70, K Rabada 3-85)  
(J Bairstow 63, T Westley 59, J Root 50; K Maharaj 3-50)
South Africa 175 and 252
(T Bavuma 52; T Roland-Jones 5-57, J Anderson 3-25)
(D Elgar 136; M Ali 4-45, T Roland-Jones 3-72)

Result: England won by 239 runs
England lead four-match series 2-1

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Specs

Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric

Range: Up to 610km

Power: 905hp

Torque: 985Nm

Price: From Dh439,000

Available: Now