SHAH ALAM, Jan 25 (Bernama) -- A&E Group, a manufacturer of anti-corrosion coatings and systems, expects to increase revenue to RM30 million this year from RM20 million in 2009, group chief executive officer Arthur Haycox said Monday.

According to him, the target is achievable based on the contract orders that the company has at present.

"We have grown year-on-year from RM2 million revenue over the past four to five years ago to double digits now. The orders we have now will help boost revenue until 2012," he told reporters after the launch of the company's new headquarters in Glenmarie here.

Haycox said the company had also set a target to achieve RM75 million in revenue over the next two years.

A&E currently has between RM200,000 and RM7 million worth of orders in the pipeline, he said.

The RM30 million new headquarters-cum-manufacturing plant has the capability to produce six machines a week compared with two machines a month at the previous plant, Haycox said.

The new facility caters to complete value chain of activities for A&E and its client within the Asia Pacific, including customer services, sales, training via teaching academy, research centre, design, testing and manufacturing.

"We are investing in technology and spend about 30 per cent of our annual capital expenditure in research and development," he said.

The company's products have gained recognition in the development of environmentally friendly anti-corrosion coatings for use both above and under water.

Its clients including Shell, BHP Bilition, Petronas, ConocoPhilips, the Dutch and US Navy, US Army Corps of Engineers and Tenaga Nasional Bhd.

A&E has a direct presence in Australia, Europe and the United States with about 85 per cent of its products for exports.

Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir, who officiated the launch of A&E headquarters, said the businesses should use the technology to maximise finite resources and find new ways to minimise impact on the environment.

He said the National Association of Corrosion Engineers had estimated that as much as 40 per cent of the cost of corrosion could be saved by using appropriate technology.

-- BERNAMA