Brahim's To See Strong Turnaround In FY16

BANGI (Selangor, Malaysia), Jan 8 (Bernama) -- In-flight caterer Brahim's Holdings Bhd expects to turn round strongly this year after wallowing in huge losses in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2015. Group Executive Chairman Ibrahim Ahmad said the company hoped to be able to turn around in financial year 2016 (FY16), but it would not be a complete turnaround due to the massive losses but "it will be a substantial turnaround". Ibrahim was speaking to reporters after accompanying Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry Ahmad Maslan on a visit to Dewina Food Industries Sdn Bhd, the manufacturer of Brahim's halal food products, here, Friday. Brahim's recorded a pre-tax loss of US$2.3 million (RM10.14 million) in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2015 compared with a pre-tax profit of US$1.29 million (RM5.69 million) in the same period in 2014, while revenue declined to RM64.88 million from RM89.69 million previously. (US$1 = RM4.39) Meanwhile, Ibrahim said the company had invested about RM40 million to set up a factory in Jordan, which opened one-and-a-half years ago. "The size of the factory in Jordan is three times bigger than our factory here and it mainly supplies military food," he said. On the partnership with Singapore-based SATS Ltd, he said Brahim's viewed SATS as a strategic partner as it is operating in 43 airports worldwide. "They also have non-airline businesses which we are also looking at," he said. He also said Brahim's aimed to reduce the dependency on airline business to 50 per cent to 60 per cent as it has been overly dependent on the airline business for a long time. In December last year, Brahim's disposed of a 49 per cent stake in Brahim's Airline Catering Holdings Sdn Bhd to SATS for RM218 million. Currently, Brahim's serves 38 airlines including British Airways and the newly launched Malaysia's first Islamic-compliant airline, Rayani Air. "At the moment, our biggest customer is Malaysia Airlines, followed by budget airline AirAsia and Dubai-based Emirates Airline," he said. -- BERNAMA