Hasan Abdullah Ismaik has resigned as CEO of Arabtec Holding. It is understood that Mohammad al-Faheem has been appointed acting CEO.

The move comes as Arabtec holds a board of directors meeting in Abu Dhabi on 18 June. Ahead of the meeting, there was an expectation in the market that the company was going to make changes to its management structure.

Speculation on the future of the Dubai-listed construction company has been growing after the company’s share price fell from a high of AED9.88 ($2.70) on 7 May to close at AED4.37 on 17 June.

The month of steady declines was briefly halted in late May when Ismaik raised his stake in the company to 21.5 per cent from 8.03 and became Arabtec’s largest shareholder – a move that also reportedly made him Jordan’s first billionaire.

The share price rose 4.5 per cent following the stake increase, but declines returned on 3 June. Ismaik addressed the declines in a statement on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) on 11 June. He said recent changes in the share price were influenced by supply and demand, and should not affect investors and shareholders confidence in the company.

He also reiterated Arabtec Holding’s ambition to become one of the 10 largest construction companies in the world by 2018, a goal he outlined at the company’s annual general meeting held in Abu Dhabi on 30 April. “By 2018, we will be in the top 10,” he said.

The company was ranked 117 in the Engineering News-Record (ENR) list of the world’s largest contractors in 2013. In 2012, it was ranked 187. Ismaik added that he expects Arabtec to take a big leap in the rankings in 2014

Since taking the helm at the Dubai-listed company on 13 September 2012, Ismaik has been a controversial figure in the region’s construction sector. Despite being a newcomer to the industry, he has spearheaded a series of daring moves that saw the company sign multibillion-dollar construction contracts, form joint ventures that will take it into new sectors, such as oil and gas and heavy infrastructure, take complete ownership of its subsidiaries, and target companies for acquisition.

The company says its backlog now sits at about AED60bn after major new orders were signed this year in the UAE and Jordan. The company also signed a deal that could be worth $40bn to develop 1 million affordable homes in Egypt.