Faisal Anwar

• Mattex is a leading global business to business (B2B) polymer-based, synthetic materials group, having 5 manufacturing plants in GCC and selling products globally including North America, Europe, Middle East, Asia, etc. The Group has 3 business units namely Carpets, Yarns and Geotextiles.
• Reporting to Chief Executive Officer, Board of Directors, Board Executive Committee and Board Audit Committee.
• Lead a team of 20 finance people, spread across 5 plants and a distribution centre in USA

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS:

Finance department re-organisation

• Optimized department by introducing two level structure 1) Group (responsible for policy, standardization and governance) 2) Plants (day to day operations).
• Consolidated Finance team in Saudi Arabia (3 teams into 1) -annual savings of 13% of the total finance department cost
• Created area specific verticals to serve 3 plants e.g. Costing, Business Analysis and Reporting, Supplier/Customer invoice processing, VAT/Zakat reporting, etc.
• Next phase of resource rationalization (after ERP) - target saving of another 10%.

Zero based budgeting

• Carried out workshops on “Zero based Budgeting” across all Plants/Departments targeting an estimated annual savings of 7% (avg.) in all spend pools.
• Shared practical experience (with examples) of how to save cost by challenging the norms, thinking out of the box, consolidating and pushing suppliers to get volume/price discounts, etc.

Treasury management and banking relationships

• UAE - Effectively concluded the financing deal with a new bank and achieved estimated annual savings of 44% on account of:
o Reduction in rate (bank margin) on Working Capital and Long-term loan
o Flexibility in utilising working capital facility and reducing bank balance by 60%.
• KSA - Established relationships with 4 new banks:
o Targeted a rate reduction (bank margin) to 1.5% pa (bank indicated rate of 2.0% pa).
o Consolidating debt to have more flexibility of utilizing funds among three plants.
o Flexibility in using Working Capital (not restricted to processing of supplier invoicing).
• KSA - Renegotiated existing facilities by reducing the rate (bank margin) and generated 25% savings on cost of Working Capital facility and 16% saving on Long-term loan

Working capital improvement project

Spearheaded the “Working Capital Improvement Project” across the Group targeting:
o Cash conversion of aged inventory items > 1 year - managed to reduce inventory by 18%
o Overdue Account Receivables - managed to reduce by 14%

Shared Services Cost Allocation Mechanism

• Developed end to end process document by identifying shared resources across the Group, analysed the basis of allocation with rationale, considered tax implications, developed process / responsibility (for budget and actual) and agreed impact with the stakeholders.

Project feasibilities

• Relocating an entire manufacturing plant from one geography to another. For this purpose, analysed data and created a bridge of estimated savings in raw materials (through added discounts), staff synergies, low cost of labour / power, exemptions in custom duties, etc.
• Purchase of machinery from Europe (available in a distress sales condition) taking into account, product viability, capacity analysis, customer identification, funding consideration, etc.

AREA OF EXPERTISE

As a successful executive and a Chartered Accountant possessing more than 20 years of post-qualification experience, I have blended knowledge and experience of:

• Handling of the finance function
• Treasury / bank relationship management
• Finance Transformation
• Diagnostic Business Reviews
• Process improvement projects
• Budgeting and forecasting
• Business performance and analysis
• Financial reporting
• Project Feasibilities
• Business Development
• Project management & systems Implementation
• External Audit, Advisory & Tax
• IT support monitoring

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS:

• Lead the cost saving drive (targeted 30%) for two biggest spend pools; Facility management and IT. Carried out workshops for idea generation and opportunities, analysed data and set targets for sub-category expenses and worked out target savings.
• Participated in creating a “Centralised Procurement Function” across nine business units which included idea generation, analysed data and categorised spend pools into general and specific, reviewed team skill set, developed phased wise centralisation plan and worked out target saving.
• Lead the process of resolution of long outstanding store rental issue between the Operating Companies by considering factors 1) comparable market data, 2) external benchmarking, 3) comparison with regional and global players, 4) sales density and rent multiples.
• Introduced the concept of monitoring EBITDA margins to analyse financial performance of key Business Units.
• Redesigned the entire Monthly Management Report focusing on business performance and analysis, linking it with key business drivers.
• Lead the implementation of Oracle systems (transactional and Hyperion consolidation) as ‘Project Manager’ and completed within agreed timelines and budget.
• Lead the process of accelerated timelines and managed to reduce the production of consolidated financial statements by almost 1 month (time and cost saving of more than 80 finance people).

AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY

• Monthly management report
• Budget, forecasts & 5 year plan
• Business Performance Management
• Target setting (Revenue & EBITDA)
• Implementation of Business Intelligent (BI) Tool and Management Reporting System
• Handling of finance function
• Group Consolidation and Reporting
• Treasury related transactions (including hedge accounting)
• Oracle Systems Implementation
• Information Technology (IT) Support negotiation and ongoing monitoring

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS

• Spearheaded the Financial services department handling a team of more than 50 people (from entry level to Senior Manager who were administratively reporting to me).
• Team leader of one of the top 5 clients of KPMG Lower Gulf (in terms of revenue).
• Reduced the attrition rate of employees from 38% to 18%.
• 25% share in revenues of the Financial Services Dept.

AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY

Director Audit - Financial Services Group

While performing audits and special assignments for various recognized multi-national and national financial institutions/companies, I worked as a Team Leader and communicated at all levels of management.

Head of the Department & PML

In addition to performing audits, I have been assigned responsibility to manage the Financial Services (FS) Group of the firm. My responsibilities included monitoring Group KPIs and reporting to Lower Gulf Audit Team (LGAT), job allocation, staff productivity and efficiency, coordination with HR for all staff related matters and staff training.

A member firm of PriceWaterhouseCoopers. I joined the firm as a trainee student worked in the Assurance and Business Advisory Services Group of the firm till September 2005.