Tasnee's CEO Al-Morished says his resignation is part of retirement plan

Mutlaq Al-Morished, CEO of the National Industrialization Co. (Tasnee)

Mutlaq Al-Morished, CEO of National Industrialization Co. (Tasnee), confirmed that his decision to resign from his post at the company has nothing to do with the press interview conducted prior to his resignation.

Speaking to a podcast on Al Saudiya TV, Al-Morished explained that he had planned to retire by 2026. A replacement for the CEO position, Fawaz Al-Fawaz, was already in the pipeline.

He said that external circumstances forced him to resign, albeit refused to disclose them.

            Tasnee CEO Mutlaq Al-Morished resigns, Fawaz Al-Fawaz takes helm

Tasnee’s board of directors was not aware of the resignation, Al-Morished said, adding that the resignation’s external drivers have nothing to do with Tasnee and he decided to resign for the benefit of the company.

Further, Al-Morished said he does have any problems with the board of directors, stressing that he is satisfied with his work at the company.

He also noted that he is not in a rush to take another position at other companies.

Al-Morished said he served as CFO at Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) for 14 years, before moving to Tasnee in January 2015. However, he was not deeply aware of Tasnee's financial position. Al-Morished noted that he did not imagine that the situation was as bad as he found when he started working with Tasnee.

According to Al-Morished, the company's earnings in the last year were a bank loan of nearly SAR 2 billion, which were distributed as dividends. However, this was not in line with his policy.

Al-Morished said the situation was not good at Tasnee when he moved to it, as the company had nearly 9,000 employees and loans worth around SAR 26.5 billion, which hindered the dividend payout. Thus, the firm had to sell shares to pay salaries.

Tasnee had operational and financial challenges. Accordingly, negotiations were held with the contracted company, McKinsey, to offer solutions and ensure the efficient operation of factories, solve their challenges, and reduce costs.

"We agreed with banks to reschedule the loans and extend their maturity dates. The number of employees was also reduced from 9,000 to 6,000," Al-Morished said.

Accordingly, the company was back on track, as shown in 2023 financials, he noted.

The board of directors decided on March 6 to accept the resignation of Al-Morished, effective March 31, 2024, after he expressed his intention to retire, according to data available with Argaam.