Digital disruption seems poised to claim yet more casualties in newspaper publishing.
Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. - Singapore’s dominant newspaper carrying titles like The Straits Times, The Business Times, The New Paper, Lianhe Zaobao, Lianhe Wanbao, Shin Min Daily News, among others - started a review of its media business this year and is considering job cuts amid a reorganisation, Bloomberg reported.
News of the job cuts comes weeks after CEO’s Ng Yat Chung assumed office on September 1. The publisher’s spokeswoman Chin Soo Fang, however, declined to comment on the matter.
At the end of May, Singapore Press had 4,473 employees, with a total wage bill of S$276 million ($204 million).
Revenue in the third quarter slipped 11 percent to S$260 million because of shrinking sales and advertising.
Profits fell for six straight quarters, including a 45-percent decline in the three months through May, from a year earlier.
Diversification into property, telecommunication and nursing homes has not been able to arrest the earnings slide.
Stock prices have not been good, either. The company’s market value fell below that of its U.S. peer New York Times Co. for the first time in 12 years earlier this month. Singapore Press shares, down more than 20 percent, are the year’s worst performers on the country’s benchmark index, according to Bloomberg.
In fact, the stock has been trading near levels last seen during the 1997 Asian currency meltdown and the 2008-2009 Global Financial Crisis.
Mediacorp, the country’s other main news group that publishes the Today newspaper, said in August it would stop the print edition.
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