A COMPREHENSIVE business restructuring exercise is paying rich dividends for Ahmed Mansoor Al Aali (AMA) Group, one of Bahrain’s most recognisable and enduring construction and trading organisations.

Group CEO Othmar Wutscher, who heads a vastly experienced international management team that has helped restore the group’s fortunes since 2008, says AMA is again trading profitably and is looking forward with confidence.

“It is no secret that up to 2008 the group was overleveraged and suffering from financial difficulties. However, today I am pleased to report that AMA is regaining its rightful place as one of Bahrain’s leading business conglomerates, with an annual turnover well in excess of BD100 million ($263.7 million),” he says.

“We are now back stronger than ever, on a sound financial footing and are ready and able to be the preferred supplier of contracting and related services to new and existing customers in Bahrain and further afield.”

The road to recovery started when AMA’s shareholders – led by its chairman Ahmed Mansoor Al Aali, and supported by vice chairman Tawfiq Ahmed Mansoor Al Aali – recognised the need for the group’s shareholders to step back from the day-to-day running of the business, and instead offer higher-level strategic vision and the benefit of their deep knowledge of the local market. The result was the appointment of a new management team, whose first priority was to initiate a comprehensive restructuring programme, which saw the business reorganised into five principal business divisions: construction, building materials, structural and mechanical, trading and joint ventures.

“Today, AMA is a leaner, fitter and more focused organisation. This, coupled with our more than 60-year experience in the construction and trading sectors, provides a platform for the future. We therefore believe 2012 will be better than 2011 for the business, which we expect will also see the launch of operations in Qatar, where we are currently in the preliminary stages of setting up an office with a local sponsor,” Wutscher explains.

AMA, which will be exhibitng at GulfBID, is one of the largest construction groups in Bahrain, with activities comprising building construction, civil engineering, civil works for industrial infrastructure, piling and excavation works and marine works.

The group’s expertise and footprint is stamped on several iconic projects in the kingdom, including Bahrain International Airport, Novotel Al Dana Resort, Abraj Al Lulu residential towers, multi-storey car parks, and shopping malls (Bahrain City Centre and Sitra Mall).