Leading Beyond the Numbers

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, the role of the Chief Financial Officer extends far beyond balance sheets and financial reporting. The modern CFO is expected to shape corporate strategy, drive digital transformation, strengthen governance, and create enduring value while navigating persistent economic uncertainty. Few leaders embody this expanded mandate as completely as Mohamed Helal, Group Chief Financial Officer of Al Watania for Industries, one of Saudi Arabia’s leading industrial groups.

With more than three decades of senior finance leadership across Saudi Arabia, the GCC, and Egypt, Helal has distinguished himself as a transformational finance executive whose influence reaches well beyond traditional financial stewardship. His career reflects a consistent ability to guide organizations through growth, operational change, and market complexity — anchored by an unwavering commitment to governance, transparency, and sustainable value creation.

Today, he oversees the finance and information technology functions across a diversified portfolio of industrial subsidiaries, positioning the group for continued expansion while embedding the financial discipline essential for long-term success.

“Finance is far more than a reporting function — it is a strategic force capable of driving innovation, enabling growth, and shaping organizational success.”

Building a Strong Financial Foundation

Every exceptional leadership journey rests on a solid foundation — and for Mohamed Helal, that foundation was forged in banking.

His career began at the Export Development Bank of Egypt, where he built deep expertise in financial operations, treasury management, and corporate banking. Those formative years instilled a rigorous command of capital management, financial controls, and risk assessment — disciplines that would later prove instrumental in leading large-scale corporate finance functions.

Recognizing the opportunity to create broader strategic impact, Helal transitioned from banking into corporate finance, steadily expanding his mastery across treasury, financial control, executive leadership, and operational management. Assignments spanning Egypt, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia exposed him to diverse industries, business cultures, and economic environments — sharpening his ability to adapt, lead, and deliver results in organizations of increasing scale and complexity.

As his responsibilities grew, so did his perspective. Finance, he came to understand, is not merely the record of past performance; it is a strategic function capable of shaping organizational direction, enabling informed decision-making, and building lasting competitive advantage. That conviction continues to define his leadership today.

Career Milestones: A Track Record of Measurable Impact

What distinguishes Helal’s journey is not longevity alone, but the tangible, lasting value he has created at every stage. Each chapter of his career tells the same story from a different angle: he arrives, he builds, and the organization is transformed.

2005   Pioneering Treasury Management — Farm Frites Group

At a time when dedicated treasury functions were still uncommon in the region’s corporate landscape, Helal initiated and built the treasury management function from the ground up at Farm Frites Group, introducing the treasury concept as a strategic discipline rather than a back-office task — encompassing cash flow planning, banking relationships, and funding structure.

Impact:  A substantial improvement in group cash flow and a fundamentally stronger, more efficient financial structure that became a model for disciplined liquidity management.

2008   Architecting Corporate Finance — El-Gebaly Group (Hama Holding)

Helal designed and established the corporate finance framework for El-Gebaly Group, building the function at the holding-company level through Hama Holding. He introduced group-wide financial governance, consolidated reporting, and structured capital allocation across the group’s businesses.

Impact:  A unified, professionally governed finance organization at holding level — giving ownership and management, for the first time, a consolidated strategic view of the group’s financial position and performance.

2015   Total Business Transformation — New Pressdan

As Managing Director, Helal led New Pressdan through a complete repositioning — financial, commercial, and reputational. He restructured the company’s finances, redefined its market strategy, and rebuilt its brand standing in the industry.

Impact:  A company shifted to an entirely different financial, market, and image position — emerging with restored credibility, competitive strength, and a sustainable commercial footing.

2022   Fortifying Resilience Through the Global Rate Shock — Al Watania for Industries

As global interest rates surged, Helal moved decisively rather than defensively — leading initiatives across liquidity preservation, debt optimization, strategic refinancing, and working capital acceleration for the group.

Impact:  More than SAR 225 million in operating cash flow improvements, materially strengthened liquidity, and protected profitability through the most demanding financing environment in over a decade.

2025   Regional Recognition — Innovative CFO of the Year

Helal’s transformation agenda at Al Watania for Industries — spanning IPO readiness, governance elevation, digitalization, and working capital excellence — earned him the Innovative CFO of the Year award at the CFO Middle East Impact Awards.

Impact:  Industry-wide affirmation of a career defined by turning finance into a strategic growth engine — following recognition among the Global 200 Power Leaders in Finance (2024) and the Top 50 KSA CFO Finance Leaders (2023).

Transforming Finance into a Strategic Growth Engine

Throughout his career, Helal has consistently demonstrated that finance, at its best, is an engine of resilience and value creation — particularly in periods of uncertainty.

Among his most significant achievements was spearheading the comprehensive IPO readiness journey for Al Watania for Industries. Under his leadership, the organization completed the demanding transformation required to meet capital market expectations: strengthening governance frameworks, elevating financial transparency and risk management, streamlining internal controls, and instilling operational accountability across multiple subsidiaries. The group ultimately secured the approvals required to proceed with the listing — a powerful validation of the transformation program. Although the final listing was deferred for shareholder strategic considerations, the readiness initiative left the business measurably stronger, more disciplined, and better positioned to capture future growth opportunities.

His leadership has also been proven under some of the most demanding economic conditions in recent memory. As global interest rates rose sharply from 2022, industrial businesses everywhere confronted escalating financing costs, liquidity pressures, and heightened market uncertainty. Rather than retreating into a defensive posture, Helal led proactive initiatives spanning liquidity preservation, debt optimization, strategic refinancing, working capital acceleration, and rigorous cash flow forecasting — enhancing financial flexibility, protecting profitability, and sustaining the company’s growth momentum through volatile markets.

More recently, amid geopolitical instability and regional tensions that disrupted supply chains and elevated logistics costs, he implemented structured risk assessment and business continuity measures to safeguard operations, strengthen supplier resilience, and protect cash generation. His capacity to anticipate risk, engineer mitigation strategies, and preserve financial stability enabled the organization to navigate uncertainty without losing sight of its strategic objectives.

This philosophy — converting challenges into opportunities through disciplined financial management, strategic planning, robust governance, and forward-looking risk management — has delivered tangible results, including more than SAR 225 million in operating cash flow improvements, materially strengthened liquidity, and a solid platform for long-term value creation.

For Helal, success is not measured by financial outcomes alone. It is measured by the resilience of the organization itself — its capacity to sustain growth through changing economic cycles, market disruption, and an evolving business landscape.

Leading Through Change and Complexity

No leadership journey is without adversity, particularly in industries shaped by economic cycles, shifting markets, and intensifying global competition.

Helal has successfully steered organizations through economic volatility, rising interest rates, inflationary pressure, and rapid expansion. Each challenge demanded meticulous financial planning, decisive leadership, and the judgment to balance immediate operational needs against long-term strategic objectives. Where others see uncertainty as an obstacle, he treats it as an opportunity to build organizational resilience.

Whether transforming modest operations into industry leaders or managing accelerated growth without compromising financial discipline, he has relied on the same enduring pillars: structured strategic planning, robust governance, effective cash flow management, and continuous operational improvement.

His leadership philosophy holds that sustainable success is rarely the product of reactive decision-making. It is built through preparation, adaptability, and the willingness to make disciplined choices precisely when conditions are most uncertain.

Championing Digital Transformation and Financial Excellence

As industry embraces digital innovation, Helal is clear-eyed that finance must evolve in step with technology.

He has championed finance transformation initiatives designed to improve operational efficiency, strengthen financial accuracy, and sharpen strategic decision-making — including the implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems that have modernized financial processes while elevating organizational transparency and performance.

For Helal, technology is never automation for its own sake. It is the means by which finance teams become stronger strategic partners, capable of delivering insight that moves the business forward. By pairing digital innovation with sound financial governance, he continues to build finance organizations that are agile, data-driven, and equipped to power sustainable growth.

Recognition Earned Through Excellence

Helal’s contributions to corporate finance and executive leadership have earned wide industry acclaim.

In 2025, he was honored as Innovative CFO of the Year at the CFO Middle East Impact Awards, in recognition of his leadership in financial transformation and strategic innovation. His influence has been further acknowledged through inclusion among the Global 200 Power Leaders in Finance (2024) and the Top 50 KSA CFO Finance Leaders (2023) — distinctions that reflect both his professional accomplishments and his growing stature across the regional finance community.

This record of achievement rests on a formidable academic and professional foundation: an MBA in Financial Management, the Certified Management Accountant (CMA) designation, and certification as a Certified Treasury Professional (CTP) — credentials that underscore his lifelong commitment to learning and excellence in financial leadership.

Developing Future Leaders, Shaping the Future of Finance

For all his achievements, Helal believes leadership is ultimately measured by the ability to develop others.

He is a committed advocate of knowledge sharing, mentorship, and leadership development, urging finance professionals to invest continuously in both technical mastery and interpersonal capability. His counsel to aspiring leaders mirrors the principles that have guided his own career: embrace lifelong learning, build strong professional relationships, seek mentorship, act with integrity, and treat every challenge as an opportunity for growth.

In his view, technical competence alone is no longer sufficient. Tomorrow’s finance leaders must combine strategic thinking, resilience, and adaptability with the ability to inspire high-performing teams in an increasingly dynamic business environment.

Looking ahead, Helal remains focused on advancing finance transformation, accelerating digitalization, strengthening liquidity and working capital management, supporting strategic acquisitions and business expansion, and reinforcing the governance frameworks that position organizations for long-term value creation.

As businesses confront ever-evolving economic and technological challenges, Mohamed Helal stands as a leader who understands that finance is a strategic force — one capable of driving innovation, enabling growth, and shaping organizational success. Through disciplined leadership, unwavering integrity, and a forward-looking vision, he continues to redefine the role of the modern CFO while creating lasting value for businesses, stakeholders, and the broader financial community.

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