My Morning Routine: Mohammed Abdelwahab Morsy, Group CFO of United Pharma

United Pharma was once the second-largest pharmacy chain in Saudi Arabia. Under a new executive leadership team, it’s been clawing its way back: 500 branches, coverage across every major city in the Kingdom, and the fastest growth in the sector on both the top and bottom line.

My Morning Routine looks at how a successful member of the community starts their day — and then throws in a couple of business questions just for fun. This week, we sat down with Mohammed Morsy (LinkedIn), United Pharma’s group CFO and a self-described macro-economy obsessive. Edited excerpts from our conversation:

EnterpriseAM: Tell us about United Pharma. What does the chain look like today, and what is your competitive advantage?

Mohammed Morsy: United Pharma was founded in 1993 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahim Al Yassin. When Khaled Yassin took over the executive management in 2020, we began a full restructure. The company has been on an upward curve since 2022.

Our philosophy is pharmacy first. We want to be the traditional pharmacist — the one in your neighborhood who knows you, who you trust, and who gives you counsel, not just a transaction. Our pharmacists are selected carefully for their knowledge and their ability to build real relationships with customers.

At the same time, we have moved decisively into e-commerce, fast delivery, private-label products, and strong partnerships with ins. providers and the Wasfati platform. We now cover virtually every city in the Kingdom; we celebrated our 500th branch a few weeks ago.

E: How has the company held up in the current regional environment?

MM: Healthcare is one of the sectors that keeps moving regardless of what happens around it. People do not stop buying their medication. The real question is whether inflationary pressure on supply chains will force repricing, as most Arab countries import a significant portion of pharma products. I think governments will intervene to protect consumers.

For us specifically, the cosmetics side of the business is more exposed to a consumer spending shift. I do not expect a material impact on our core business, including essential meds and ins.-linked prescriptions. We spent the past three years building very strong relationships with our key suppliers and banking partners; that work is paying off now.

E: Was it always your plan to become CFO?

MM: No. I wanted to be a doctor. Neurosurgery, specifically. Most of my friends from school went into med. school — they are doctors now, and I am proud of them. But circumstances did not allow it, and that affected me deeply for a long time.

I finished my commerce degree, started working, moved to Saudi Arabia. And for years I carried that feeling. I was not at peace with where I had ended up. Then I thought: fine. I can be a very good accountant. I can build something real from that. So I went back, focused, accumulated qualifications — perhaps too many. I should have picked a lane earlier and gone deep. I spent too long on the technical side and neglected soft skills, and no one tells you that when you are young and CV-building.

E: You describe your goal as building the strongest finance team in the Saudi market. How do you actually manage a team like that?

MM: In the early days of the turnaround, I was hands-on with everything — there was no room to delegate, the team was still small. For the past year and a half, I have delegated the full operation. One of the things I believe most strongly: a one-man-show company is the fastest kind to fail. You are building an entity, not a person. The entity is what endures.

Part of my job is ensuring there is a second generation and a third generation ready. I have now told my team directly: promotions and salary increases will be tied, in part, to how well you have developed the person who can replace you. You do not move up until the colleague below you is ready.

E: Where does the company go next?

MM: The current plan runs to 2028, with annual milestones. We are on track across every metric: expansion, market positioning, hiring, revenue, and margins. We are now building a plan to 2035.

Beyond the core business, we are beginning to build adjacent businesses that serve the pharmacy network. E-commerce is where I see the biggest growth potential within the chain. The next generation does not want to shop at a physical branch, as they want speed and convenience. The physical-store model across all fast-moving consumer goods will look different in 10 years. We are investing heavily to be ready for that.

E: Now, onto your morning routine. What’s that like?

MM: I will be honest: I am not a morning person by nature, but I learned early that starting early is non-negotiable.

The first thing every morning is to make coffee, and then turn on the news. Political events affect economic events, and economic events affect my work directly, so I need to understand both the macro and the micro before anything else. I also listen to podcasts throughout the day.

When I arrive at the office, the first thing I do is walk the floor and check in with every single colleague — one to one, a minute or two each. I want to know who is having a good day, who is under pressure, and who needs a word. That’s a real task in my schedule, as it tells me the state of the room before any meeting starts. After that, meetings until 4-5pm, then the second half of the day begins.

My working day typically ends around 1am. I know that is not what people want to hear. But at a company in transformation, that is the reality.

E: You are clearly skeptical of the work-life balance conversation.

MM: I will be direct. I do not know how to do it. Maybe that makes me old school. Maybe there are people smarter than me who have figured it out. But I have not seen many genuinely successful people who have.

What I do believe is this: if your work gives you meaning — if you can see the impact of what you are building on the people around you — that is its own kind of fuel. I see colleagues who started with us and are now in a better financial position, sending their children to better schools. That cycle is visible to me. When I am aware of that, the fatigue is different. It has a reason.

Morsy's recommendations

What he's listening to: The Mal Show with Yousef Salem — he is one of Egypt’s finest, and the program is excellent. Mohamed Aboulnaga's El Mal El Halal is essential. Business Bel Arabi is strong. And Dr. Sherine Helmy.

Where he goes in Jeddah: Park Hyatt Jeddah, always. There is a spot there overlooking the water. A good coffee and the sea — that’s all I need. The Abhur area for diving as well.

A piece of advice that has stayed with him: My mother — God rest her soul — asked me a question when I was about to move abroad: whatever you do, what will you leave behind for people? That question has never left me, and reframed my thinking from this point onward. Start with what is in your hands. Fix it. Make it strong. The ripple effect takes care of itself.