Talent shortage stunts growth for Kingsmen Creatives

But its profit climbed 24.6% in Q3.

Mainboard-listed Kingsmen Creatives reported a strong set of Q3 results. Its pretax profit climbed 24.6% to $4.6m, thanks to topline growth in all its business segments.

According to OSK DMG, the outlook for Kingsmen creatives the company’s ability to secure projects remains limited by a persistent talent dearth.

“While the company’s outlook remains robust, we are cautious on its capacity to secure more projects. The company’s ability to secure projects remains constrained by talent and manpower shortage, while rising operating cost is also a challenge,” noted OSK DMG.

Here’s more from OSK DMG: 

Rigorous growth across the board. Kingsmen Creatives’ (Kingsmen) 3Q14 revenue grew 35.6% YoY to SGD86.2m, boosted by the inclusion of Kingsmen Middle East (KMC) as a subsidiary in FY14.

According to management, topline still grew around 20% excluding KMC, driven by improvements across all segments. However, 3Q14 PATMI only grew 7.8% YoY on lower gross margin and higher taxes this quarter. YTD effective tax rate remained stable at 19%. 

Positive outlook limited by capacity. Kingsmen’s capabilities put it in a good position to leverage on the booming thematic space, developments of airport retail, and growing meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) industry in Asia and Middle East.