KUALA LUMPUR: Aviation academy APFT Bhd (APFT), which diversified into the oil and gas (O&G) industry in 2013 after acquiring a new subsidiary PT Tecnic (M) Sdn Bhd (PPTM), saw the sector contributing about 70% of its revenue in the last financial year ended March 31, 2015 (FY15). The group is confident of shrinking its losses next year.

Its 51%-owned PT Tecnic has a tender book of about RM100 million to RM150 million, and APFT executive chairman Datuk Faruk Othman hinted to reporters yesterday that PT Tecnic will be securing a one-year job soon. “We are going to make the announcement in two to three days. Our tender book right now is around RM100 to RM150 million, it’s a one-year job, for PTTM. We are looking for more jobs. We were focussing on Pengerang’s Rapid (refinery and petrochemical integrated development) project, but that was deferred by the government.

“We are still there [at Pengerang] and once it receives the government’s green light we will start. Whether or not I can turn the losses around by next year ... it’s already September right now ... but I do foresee a loss reduction [for next year],” Faruk said after the group’s annual general meeting and extraordinary general meeting (EGM).

APFT acquired PPTM, an engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning company, in 2013 to mitigate losses in their flight school, but the Rapid project deferment by the government has forced it to seek other sources of revenue for PT Tecnic.

In FY15, the group’s net loss widened to RM22.51 million compared with RM19.67 million in FY14. Revenue, however, tripled to RM84.63 million from RM27.81 million previously. In its first quarter ended June 30, 2015 (1QFY16), it reported a net loss of RM2.78 million compared to a profit of RM1.46 million in 1QFY15, while revenue more than halved to RM12.86 million from RM28.23 million. As at June 30, its accumulated losses stood at RM29.8 million.

Yesterday, Faruk said the recent aviation tragedies in the Asian region have put a damper on APFT’s flight school enrolments. It has expanded its curriculum, besides working with government agencies, to mitigate the issue. “Our new helicopter pilot training programme has produced two batches of graduates for Jabatan Bomba Dan Penyelamat Malaysia (Bomba). We will be training more for Bomba. We are also discussing with several other organisations to train their helicopter cadets in Malaysia instead of overseas,” said Faruk.

Faruk is confident that the O&G sector will recover and that the group’s future is in that. “Our concern now is to get the financials back up ... but if you ask me about jobs, I think it’s quite positive. My margin is quite good: 10% to 15%,” he added.

At the EGM earlier, APFT (fundamental: 0.2; valuation: 0) shareholders approved a proposed settlement of a RM5 million debt to Faruk, with the issuance of 24.57 million new ordinary shares at an issue price of 20.35 sen per settlement share. APFT’s stocks closed unchanged at 22.5 sen yesterday, for a market capitalisation of RM88.58 million.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on September 22, 2015.