In dire straits? Singapore Press Holdings accelerates plan to axe 400 jobs
Southeast Asia’s biggest newspaper publisher and owner of The Straits Times dismisses suggestions it will close titles after fifth year of decline in media business revenue
SINGAPORE PRESS HOLDINGS is hoping that a slimmer employee base will save its struggling media business, but observers say retrenchments alone will not keep Southeast Asia’s biggest newspaper publisher and its regional peers in business, as digital disruption throttles circulation and advertisement revenue.
Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), publisher of The Straits Times English daily, announced this week it was urgently bringing forward previously announced plans to slash a tenth of its nearly 4,000-strong work force, after full-year results showed a 13 per cent slump in media business revenue to Sg$725.4 million (HK$4.18 billion).
It was the fifth straight year of decline in its media business revenue, even as its sizeable property holdings and a hefty one-off divestment kept it well in the black – the company recorded a 32 per cent increase in net profits to Sg$350.1 million.
SPH said of the 230 jobs it still needed to cut, 130 were retrenchments while the rest were retirements and contract terminations.
More than 30 people, including frontline reporters, photographers, subeditors and administrative staff from The Straits Times had been laid off by Friday afternoon.
