Marc Dardenne, chief executive officer of Emaar Hospitality Group will be replaced by Chief Operating Officer Patrick Heuze, Emaar said in an e-mailed statement.

Emaar, which operates the Armani hotel at Burj Khalifa, did not give a reason for Dardenne’s departure.

Emaar Hospitality Group has total assets of development value $1 billion according to the company’s website. It also owns a portfolio of assets such as hotels, golf resorts and recereation clubs.

Dardenne, who was named ‘CEO of the Year 2009’ by an industry magazine, had plans to expand “The Address” chain of hotels globally.

Emaar is conducting a strategic review of its foreign operations, which may lead to a greater focus on its hospitality and retail resort business, sources said earlier this year.

The company posted a 45 percent drop in first-quarter net profit, missing analysts forecasts, as revenue dipped and losses from associate firms rose.