CLOTHING magnate and media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying has substantially shored up his finances in the price war among Chinese dailies after cashing in his 27 per cent stake in Giordano International.
The price war has so far delayed the break-even point for his Apple Daily and derailed his plans to list Next Media Group which publishes the weekly Next magazine and two other weeklies.
Some analysts expect him to allocate some of the proceeds of the share sale to strengthen his publishing business. He recently committed US$125 million to a new building and printing presses at Junk Bay.
However, Next managing director Morris Ho Kwok-fai said he had not heard from Mr Lai whether he was about to inject more money into the business.
Analysts said the raising had improved Mr Lai's chances of surviving the price war which has claimed four victims since December.
Next magazine slipped into the red by losing $4 million last month after being profitable since 1993 - its second year of business.
