APFT AIMS TO FLY BACK INTO THE BLACK

Aviation training firm may find new core business in bid to return to profitability, says executive director

AVIATION training firm APFT Bhd is undergoing a restructuring that may affect its core business, as it aims to return to the black in less than two years. APFT executive director Edwin Silvester Das said APFT still had the potential for growth despite posting losses.

“We hope to be profitable again in less than two years. Plans are underway to turn things around,” he said, here, yesterday.

Das did not rule out the possibility of having a new core business.

APFT fell into the red in 2012 and has not returned to profitability since.

Its share price, reflecting its earnings performance, has also been on a downtrend.

Das, formerly the executive director of MQ Technology Bhd, was brought in to help turn around the company.

APFT traded within the three to eight sen range for the past year and its last high in the last five years was 63.5 sen on July 18 2013.

The company is in the midst of settling its debts through private placement as well as creditors’ and directors’ capitalisation exercises, and is looking to issue up to 333 million placement shares representing about 30 per cent of the enlarged number of APFT’s issued shares.

The proceeds of RM13.33 million from the proposed private placement will be used for working capital requirements and repayment to trade creditors.

The creditors’ and directors’ capitalisation would help the company pay about RM24 million to its creditors, including its executive chairman Datuk Faruk Othman and executive director Arif Faruk, through issuance of 488 million settlement shares.