Xpress Holdings mulls selling assets as losses mount

Its China operations are a sore spot.

Singapore-listed printing company Xpress Holdings warned shareholders that its is expected to book a loss for the second quarter of its current financial year.

Xpress blamed its continuing losses on the lack of skilled manpower in China, as well as intense competition from digital media providers in the country.

Its Singapore operations, however, remained profitable on back of the city-state’s open economy and the abundance of skilled workers here.

To stave off further losses, the company said that it is exploring the possibility of selling off assets or liquidating loss-making subsidiaries.

“A disposal of these assets will allow the Group to streamline its structure and to reduce its fixed operating costs. It will also enable the Company to free up its resources and capital for allocation to its other profitable operations,” the group said in its statement.

Another option is for the group to upgrade and transform its equipment to digitalise and upscale the production processes and enhance training in new technical expertise to upgrade our manpower resources. 

However, this transformation process requires further investment in capital outlay and highly-skilled human resources which therefore carries high business risks with uncertain investment horizon.

“The Company will release further announcements to inform shareholders of the Company’s plans when there are material developments,” Xpress Holdings said.