Computer education company, Aptech, plans to expand aggressively in emerging economies -- Latin America, South-East Asia, East Europe and Africa -- with a view to increase its revenue from international operations to more than half by end-FY 15, a top company official said.
"We plan to transform into a global career education company and keeping in mind the same, have set the target of taking foreign revenues to over 50%," the company's Managing Director and Chief Executive, Ninad Karpe, said after launching the 25-year-old company's new corporate identity here.
At present, a third of Aptech's retail revenues come from international operations.
When asked if the target was too aggressive, a company official said there is plenty of room (to grow) as the flagship computer education vertical gets over 90% of its revenues domestically and while entering newer geographies, the company will go with a bouquet of products like English education, airline and hospitality management education and animation.
The company will continue with its "asset-light" strategy and enter the new geographies with its tested franchisee model wherein local partners do the investments and Aptech supplies the content and other back-end support.
"The expansion does not require much money. We will continue maintaining the characteristic of being a debt-free company for many years," Karpre told PTI, announcing the company has got a dividend of Rs 33-crore from its Chinese joint venture partner in March which will be utilised for the overseas expansion.
Aptech is a minority shareholder with a 22% stake in the JV, which is operated by the local partner.
Aptech expects the joint venture in Brazil, where it operates two centres, to be in the investment mode in the current fiscal and hopes to break-even by end-FY 13 while it expects the JV in the Philippines to start delivering profits in the current fiscal itself, Karpe said.
For its international expansion, the company has identified cities having a population of over a million in the English and non-English countries that it plans to expand in, Karpe said, detailing out the geographies of Brazil, other Spanish-speaking Latin American nations, Thailand, Indonesia, East Europe and non-English speaking African countries as the next destinations.
"Share of revenues from the non-English segment will continue to grow going forward," the company's Chief Operating Officer, Anuj Kacker, said.
Aptech is eyeing a 30 per cent jump in revenues from international operations this fiscal, Karpe said, adding other divisions, especially those on the corporate side will see a reversal of fortunes as the economic recovery process grows. It is eyeing a 25% revenue growth from its online testing vertical, he added.