Muscat, Oman-based seafood-processing firm Oman Fisheries Company has fired its chief operating officer – just 18 months after the company’s board of directors confirmed his appointment.
The board said in a recent statement to the Muscat Stock Exchange (MSX) that Miguel Sanchez’s last working day in the COO role will be 31 December 2024 due to what the firm deemed an “unacceptable decline” in his performance.
Previously, the company heaped praise on Sanchez, describing him as “having held several leadership positions for more than 15 years … in leading companies in both Africa and Europe, as well as experience in the fisheries sector in Africa for more than eight years.”
The dismissal of Sanchez comes three months after the resignation of the company’s CFO Andrea Armando due to “personal reasons,” according to Oman Fisheries CEO Mohammed Salim Al-Amri.
Oman Fisheries has also had a rotating group of CEOs over the past few years. Sulaiman Al-Ghannami served as the firm’s CEO for one year from late 2021 to late 2022. He was replaced by Nabeel Salim Rwidi, who resigned from the top role in July of this year. Al-Amri has served in the role since then.
Both of the more recent personnel changes coincide with a drop in the company’s financial performance for the nine months ending 30 September 2024.
Company sales dropped to OMR 4.3 million (USD 11.1 million, EUR 10.6 million) from the OMR 5.88 million (USD 15.2 million EUR 14.4 million) reported in the same period of 2023. Net losses for the first nine months of 2024 totaled OMR 2.04 million (USD 5.3 million, EUR 5 million).
Due to the performance and shuffling of executives, Oman Fisheries Company, which owns processing and cold storage facilities across Oman, announced it is undergoing a restructuring process, which will include the development and implementation of a recently approved transformation plan led through a board of directors-appointed transformation committee. Details of the plan have not yet been made available.
The company’s seafood products include tuna, cuttlefish, shrimp, and rock lobster, as well as value-added breaded and battered seafood products such as fish biscuits, fish burgers, jumbo shrimp, popcorn shrimp, and fish nuggets.
