Next Media 'in strong position' after Taiwan TV sale
Sale of Taiwan television operations has left Lai Chee-ying with time to seek out the best offers for his Apple Daily and other print interests
Next Media is in a strong financial position after selling its loss-making television business in Taiwan and can take its time in negotiating the price of its print assets with potential buyers, industry insiders say.
Yang Chih-hung, former president of the school of communication at Ming Chuan University in Taiwan, said selling the television business was a good deal for Next Media chairman Lai Chee-ying. "Lai got rid of loss-making assets," Yang said, adding that there was no urgency in selling the printing business.
"Apple Daily and Next Magazine are profitable and influential," he said.
On Monday, Next Media agreed to sell its Taiwan television unit because it was unable to get a cable television licence. Its Taiwan television and multimedia operation made a loss of HK$1.17 billion during the year to March 31, compared with a loss of HK$459 million in the preceding year.
The company announced on September 4 that it was in talks with third parties to sell its printed media interests.
In the past financial year, Taiwan Apple Daily reported a profit of HK$197.5 million, a 7.6 per cent year-on-year decline, blamed on higher costs.
Yang said the newspaper had changed the way Taiwan print media worked with its wide coverage of close-to-everyday-life stories.