SPH’s print business drops for 2 straight years

Singapore’s largest print newspaper publisher, Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), has seen its print business decline for the second year in a row, it revealed today in a financial statement. It runs newspapers like broadsheet The Straits Times and tabloid The New Paper.

The group’s annual income from newspapers and magazines fell to S$931 million (US$732 million), a 10 percent decline from 2012. Print ad revenue dropped too, down 11 percent from two years ago to S$705 million (US$554 million) in financial year 2014.

This is the lowest point for SPH’s print business since 2009, and further indication that traditional media in Singapore is slowing but surely fading.

The surprise here is that it’s taking this long. SPH did not give a breakdown of its newsstand sales as well as its subscription services to homes and organizations. So we don’t know which part of SPH’s print sales have been propping it up.

SPH’s non-print sales have grown, however. Revenue in the “others” category rose 56.7 percent to S$78 million ($61 million) year-on-year, buoyed by exhibitions, Singapore’s leading car portal sgCarMart, and yes, its radio business.

It should hope that this segment continues to trend upwards to make up for the migration of readers from print to online.

See more: Singapore Press Holdings buys sgCarMart for $48M

SPH has stepped up its investments into internet companies in recent years as a means to adapt. Over a year ago, it announced a new $80 million fund to invest in “new media” firms.

It was only in August, or ten months after SPH announced the fund, that it appointed an investment professional to head the firm as CEO. Boon Ping Chua was the senior vice-president of EDB Investments, a government-affiliated venture capital fund. It then joined a US$20 million series E round for Smaato, an adtech firm.

Past signs point to SPH adopting a local investment strategy. Its two property developments are based in Singapore, and so are its investments into online media sites. But SPH might be missing out on the regional growth stories of online media sites like Rappler in the Philippines, Hong Kong’s 9gag, or Indonesia’s 1cak.

SPH has no further updates about the fund to share at the moment.