SPH’s net profit slipped 21.9% on back of lacklustre print revenue

It raked in $69.4m for the first quarter.

Singapore Press Holdings reported that its profit after tax dipped 21.9% year-on-year to $69.4m in the first quarter.

According to OCBC, the decline was due to reduced contributions from the group’s core newspaper and magazine business, which was impacted by continued headwinds in the print advertising market.

Its total revenue for the quarter also dipped 6.5% year-on-year. Contributions from its newspaper and magazine segment slipped to $20.2m.

“Over 1QFY15, the performance of the core print segment remained uninspiring as display and classified revenue fell 8.3% and 9.5%, respectively. Staff costs were kept mostly flat at S$92.8m, up 1.7% YoY, while the average headcount was also stagnant at 4,310 as at end Nov 14 (versus 4,322 a year ago). Newsprint prices continued to inch down to S$586/MT versus S$598/MT in 4QFY14, while average monthly consumption
also fell to 7,847 MT,” stated OCBC.