Barcelona, 1 July, 2014.- Applus+ is pleased to announce that Mr Ramon Fernandez Armas has been appointed as the next Executive Vice President of the Applus+ Velosi division. Mr Fernandez Armas replaces Dr Nabil Abd Jalil who will retire at the end of the year following a handover period. Dr Abd Jalil will continue to be engaged by the Group as an advisor after his retirement.
Mr Fernandez Armas is the Executive Vice President of Applus+ Norcontrol Spain, having worked in this division in various management positions since 1998 and becoming the segment head in 2011. Following this appointment, Mr Fernandez Armas will manage both divisions bringing them closer together under the single leadership.
Norcontrol and Velosi have complementary geographic and service portfolios with Velosi´s strong market position in the Middle East and Asia providing opportunities for Norcontrol in those regions.
Dr Abd Jalil founded the Velosi business in Malaysia in 1982 and successfully built it to become a global leader in all its fields. It operates in 35 countries and generated revenue of €373 million in 2013. The retirement of Dr Abd Jalil was expected during 2014 and announced prior to the Initial Public Offering of the Group.
Fernando Basabe, Chief Executive Officer of Applus+ said, “On behalf of the Board of Directors, the Executive Committee, the employees of Velosi and the wider Applus+ group, I sincerely thank Nabil for his commitment, the skill with which he managed the business and the passion he showed in growing it profitably. We wish him the best of luck in his retirement.
“Congratulations to Ramon. I am pleased he has accepted this challenge and I wish him every success.”
Applus+ is one of the world’s leading companies in Testing, Inspection and Certification. It provides solutions for customers in all types of industries to ensure that their assets and products meet quality, health & safety, and environmental standards and regulations.
Headquartered in Barcelona, Spain, Applus+ operates in more than 60 countries through its network of 324 offices, 157 testing facilities and 322 statutory vehicle inspection stations, and employs more than 19,000 people (including approximately 3,000 engineers). Applus+ operates through six global divisions, all of which operate under the Applus+ brand name. In 2013, Applus+ recorded revenue of € 1,581 million and adjusted operating profit of €150.7 million. From 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2013, the Group’s revenue grew at a CAGR of 15.8%.
Applus+ successfully listed on the Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid and Valencia stock exchanges with its shares starting trading on 9 May 2014 at a price per share of € 14.50. The total number of shares is 130,016,755.