Logo of Singapore Press Holdings (SPH).
Roslan Rahman | AFP | Getty Images
SINGAPORE — Singapore Press Holdings, a newspaper publisher and actual property firm, mentioned Thursday it is going to transfer its troubled media business into a not-for-profit entity.
The firm’s media business — which incorporates English broadsheets The Straits Times and The Business Times, in addition to Chinese newspaper Lianhe Zaobao — have struggled with falling promoting revenues lately.
The troubles at SPH prompted its market capitalization to shrink, and the corporate’s shares on the Singapore Exchange had been dropped from the benchmark Straits Times Index final 12 months. The STI is made up of the 30 listed firms with the biggest market capitalization.
Trading of SPH shares had been halted on Thursday, pending the announcement. As of Wednesday’s shut, the corporate’s shares have risen roughly 58% this 12 months.
In a statement, SPH mentioned all media-related belongings will probably be transferred into a brand new wholly-owned subsidiary named SPH Media Holdings, with an preliminary funding that features a money injection of 80 million Singapore {dollars} ($59.81 million) and 30 million Singapore {dollars} value of SPH shares.
The new subsidiary will ultimately be transferred to a not-for-profit entity for “a nominal sum,” mentioned the corporate.
SPH cited The Guardian within the U.Okay. and the Tampa Bay Times within the U.S. as examples of media companies that make use of the not-for-profit mannequin.
In addition to media, SPH can also be within the property business. It owns 66% of an actual property funding belief referred to as SPH REIT, with properties in Singapore and Australia making up its portfolio.
