Abu Dhabi's Taqa appoints new CFO

Taqa, the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, has appointed Stephen Kersley as chief financial officer.

Mr Kersley, former vice-president of finance at Royal Dutch Shell Plc, replaces Doug Fraser, who will return to Canada once his term ends on June 30, the company said in an e-mailed statement today.

Taqa reported a 47 per cent drop in first-quarter profit after it had to pay higher taxes on its operations in the North Sea. Quarterly costs also rose from rising depreciation and other expenses related to its Taqa North unit in Canada and Taqa Bratani in the North Sea. Foreign exchange losses mounted as the US dollar, to which the Dirham is pegged, dropped against other currencies.

Kersley has more than 20 years of experience in corporate finance, strategic planning and management, according to the statement.

Taqa filed motions last year to dismiss claims against it by the company's former Chief Executive Officer Peter Barker- Homek, who left in 2009 after making almost a dozen acquisitions in three years.

Barker-Homek said he was forced out after trying "to put a stop to the kickbacks, bribery, accounting fraud and corruption," according to the breach-of-contract lawsuit he filed on Aug. 27, 2010, in a US federal court in Detroit.

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