Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) is embarking on wide-ranging projects to rejuvenate and reposition itself in order to seek new growth areas, said chairman Lee Boon Yang yesterday.
He told the annual general meeting that the company faces challenges led by disruption from social media and digital advertising. The group will press on strengthening its media arm with quality content, strategic partnerships and technological innovations, Dr Lee added.
"For the core media business, which remains a very important part of our business strategy, because we are first and foremost a media company, we will continue to re-engineer ourselves to deal with the digital competition," he told the gathering at SPH News Centre.
"Today our newsroom operates on the basis of 24-hour news cycle and digital is our first priority."
On the mixed commercial and residential Bidadari site SPH is developing as part of a consortium, Dr Lee said the residential units are expected to be launched next year.
Dr Lee told a shareholder, who asked what the strategy was to restore profits, that SPH is branching into new and adjacent areas, including health and education, to "create new value" in the years ahead.
Several investors queried the need to hold on to the media business, with one dubbing it as "no longer relevant".
Overall earnings have been weighed down by the media portfolio. Net profit in the 2017 fiscal year jumped 32 per cent to $350.1 million on the back of the sale of an online classifieds business, but operating revenue shrank by 8.2 per cent to $1 billion. In October, a previously announced round of job cuts was stepped up to deal with the challenges in its media business.
Pointing to the job cuts, one shareholder said that if media is the core business, then more resources should be pumped into it.
Dr Lee replied that even as the group right-sizes itself, it continues to invest in the media business, especially in beefing up its digital operations.
He cited yesterday's announcement of the merger of the Chinese Media Group's editorial resources from Lianhe Zaobao, Lianhe Wanbao and CMG Digital to form NewsHub as an example of ramped-up efforts to raise productivity and put digital content first.
"We have also formed an integrated marketing division in October 2016 to enable our marketing team to... offer to our advertisers a complete suite of service.
"In this manner, I think we will be able to regain some of our lost grounds in the competition for advertising dollars."
Shareholders backed all the resolutions, including one for a final dividend of three cents a share and a special dividend of six cents.
Another shareholder questioned the appointment of Mr Ng Yat Chung as the new chief executive, asking why he had been selected and what he brought to the group from his previous work experience.
Non-executive and independent director Bahren Shaari said: "We have a thorough process of selecting candidates
"And given the background and experience of Yat Chung, and what he has achieved in his career... we find him to be the most suitable candidate."
Dr Lee added that he strongly supported the appointment of Mr Ng, who has served on the SPH board since August 2016 and been involved in many of its discussions about the group's strategy. Mr Ng was the "most appropriate candidate" for the job, of those whom the board had considered, he said.
SPH thanked former CEO Alan Chan and ex-deputy CEO Patrick Daniel for their distinguished service. Mr Daniel remains a part-time consultant and will oversee some of the group's subsidiaries. Law firm Allen & Gledhill partner Andrew Lim joined the board in January.
SPH shares closed unchanged at $2.76.
