DCC said yesterday that a Taiwanese court had agreed to enforce a judgment in DCC's favour against Pihsiang Machinery Manufacturing Company Ltd.

The proceedings arose out of a London high court judgment in January 2004, ordering Pihsiang to pay Days Healthcare, a UK-based subsidiary of DCC, damages of £10.2 million (€14.9 million) and costs of £2 million along with interest accruing at 8 per cent per annum. The sum now amounts to £14 million.

The Hsinchu District Court in Taiwan has ordered that the judgment be enforced against Pihsiang, a publicly-quoted company in Taiwan, its chairman and main shareholder Donald Wu and his wife, Jennifer Wu, a director.

Analysts said that the ruling was positive for DCC, but noted that the defendants are entitled to lodge an appeal against Taiwan's high court, which could further delay the process.

DCC initiated legal proceedings against Pihsiang in 2002, when the mobility product supplier failed to honour an agreement to renew a contract with DCC's UK subsidiary.

DCC had been the appointed European supplier of Pihsiang's "Shoprider" powered mobility scooter five years previously and had been expecting the contract to be renewed in line with the initial agreement.

The high court heard that Pihsiang's breach had a severe impact on DCC's mobility business. The company said it had contributed to a 41 per cent drop in operating profits to €6.3 million within DCC's healthcare division for the first half of 2002.

In a separate development yesterday, UK-based video games retailer Game Group issued a profit warning, saying full-year pretax profit is expected to be £3-£13 million compared to £31.9 million last year.

DCC is Game's distributor in the UK and Ireland.