Singapore Press Holdings Q2 profit crashed 24.9% to $40.19m

It continued to face challenges in digital as media revenue fell 7.4% to $155.59m.

Singapore Press Holdings’ (SPH) suffered from lower profit in Q2 as it crashed 24.9% YoY from $53.5m to $40.19m. For the first half year, profit slightly increased by 1.4% YoY to $100.6m.

According to its financial statement, its Q2 media operating revenue fell 7.4% YoY from $168.03m to $155.59m. Net income from investments plummeted by 44.5% YoY from a double-digit figure to $9.28m. Meanwhile, the share of results from its associates and joint ventures dropped by 73.9% YoY to $637,000. Staff costs slightly fell by 0.6%.

“The Group is facing its digital challenges head on, steering towards growing digital subscriptions and regaining advertising ground,” it said in a press release.

For the half year, SPH expanded overseas bureaus to enhance its journalism and create unique news offerings such as The Straits Times Asia Report’s bimonthly magazine and the popular China Zaobao.com portal. Daily average digital circulation copies have increased by 112,000 from 2Q 2017 to 2Q 2018.

Moreover, about 40% more advertisers bought integrated solutions that featured two or more platforms over the same period last year. “SPH’s latest initiatives for integrated marketing solutions for advertisers include teaming up with a neuroscience technology company NeuroTrend for deeper consumer insights and more effective solutions, SPH added.

Meanwhile, for the property segment, SPH expects its upcoming joint venture projects The Woodleigh Residences and The Woodleigh Mall will contribute to growth in the next few years

The company added that ongoing efforts are being made to grow its aged care vertical in Singapore and overseas. “For instance, the Group’s aged care operations Orange Valley opened its sixth nursing home at Balestier in January. With more than 1,000 beds in Singapore, Orange Valley is the largest local private nursing home operator,” it added.

SPH declared an interim dividend of 6 cents per share which will be paid on 24 May 2018.