Kingsmen unit told to pay $1.5m in China suit
Published on Apr 29, 2014 1:34 AM
By Grace Leong
A UNIT of Singapore-listed Kingsmen Creatives has been ordered to pay 7.6 million yuan (S$1.5 million) in damages to a Chinese
contractor over an accident that occurred when an exhibition booth was being built in Chengdu.
The company is appealing the judgment awarded in favour of Guang Zhou Audio Visual Communication earlier this month.
Kingsmen executive chairman Benedict Soh told The Straits Times yesterday: "Three years ago, we had put up an exhibition booth in Chengdu. Our contention is that Guang Zhou Audio Visual had attached a whole panel of multiple TV screens to our exhibit, which caused it to collapse.
"But the judge found insufficient evidence of our claim."
A court in Chengdu in Sichuan province issued a judgment in favour of the contractor, Kingsmen Creatives said in a Singapore Exchange statement last Saturday.
Guang Zhou Audio Visual had sued Kingsmen Beijing Co for costs and damage to its television equipment as a result of the accident. Mr Soh said his company countersued but lost. It is now seeking legal advice and has lodged an appeal.
Kingsmen, a design and production company, posted an 8.9 per cent increase in net profit to $18.4 million for the 12 months to Dec 31 last year, up from $16.9 million in 2012.
Continued demand and better management of project costs and overheads helped boost revenue by 2.1 per cent to $296.3 million.
The company's exhibitions and museums division reported revenue of $103.5 million, a drop of 4.9 per cent from a year ago, due to the completion of fewer large-scale projects in the financial year. Projects completed during the year include Art Stage, the Fern Garden revamp at Changi Airport Terminal 2, Tax Free Asia Pacific, Gillman Barracks, the Formula One Singapore Grand Prix and Hong Kong Disney Mystic Point.
Kingsmen shares closed unchanged at 94.5 cents yesterday.
[email protected]