KUALA LUMPUR (June 24): Bumi Armada Bhd has failed in its bid to appeal against an Australian court's decision that favours its former client Woodside Energy Julimar Pty Ltd (WEJ), which terminated a charter contract worth RM1.46 billion for its Armada Claire floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit in 2016.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, Bumi Armada said it is reviewing the judgment and considering possible grounds of appeal, and that any application for special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia is to be lodged within 28 days.

The matter arose out of a dispute between its wholly-owned subsidiary Armada Balnaves Pte Ltd and WEJ in relation to the FPSO contract dated Sept 30, 2011, which WEJ terminated on March 4, 2016.

Armada Balnaves deemed the termination constituted a repudiation of the contract and argued that it should be entitled for damages.

Hence, Armada Balnaves had on March 14, 2016, filed a lawsuit seeking US283.51 million against WEJ in the Supreme Court of Western Australia. The sum it sought comprised payment Armada Balnaves claimed it would have been entitled to, had the contract not been breached and US$7.7 million for work done and materials supplied. On Jan 24, 2020, the court delivered its judgment in favour of WEJ.

The outcome led Armada Balnaves to file an appeal in March 2020 at the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Western Australia, which on Friday (June 24) upheld the Supreme Court's decision and ordered Armada Balnaves to pay WEJ's costs.

Bumi Armada’s shares fell one sen or 2.6% to settle at 37 sen on Friday, valuing the group at RM2.19 billion.

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Bumi Armada seeks US$284m from Woodside over aborted FPSO deal