Singapore Press Holdings

Wholly-owned subsidiary SPH Interactive entered into a joint venture yesterday to run an online marketplace.

It will connect clients with freelancers or small and medium-sized enterprise service providers in areas like website design, logo design and translation.

Singapore Press Holdings has a 40 per cent stake in the newly formed ZBJ-SPH.

The joint venture with Chongqing Zhu Ba Jie Network "is not expected to have a material effect on the net tangible assets or earnings per share of the SPH Group" for the financial year ending Aug 31, the company said.

SPH shares closed down three cents, or 1 per cent, to $2.86, before the announcement.

Stamford Land Corporation

Stamford Land Corporation posted a 33.3 per cent rise in profit for the first quarter, thanks to higher turnover in its property development segment.

Net profit rose to $11.1 million for the three months to June 30, it reported yesterday, while revenue hit $69.9 million, up 53.1 per cent.

Earnings per share stood at 1.28 cents, from 0.96 cent the year earlier, while net asset value was 58 cents, ahead by a cent from March 31.

The growth in earnings for the property development business - which saw revenue surge to $23 million, from $207,000 a year earlier - came from the sale of flats in Sydney's Macquarie Park Village.

Mapletree Greater China Commercial Trust

Mapletree Investment's China-centred commercial real estate investment trust posted first-quarter gains in net property income and revenue, as all of its three properties saw higher average rental rates.

Revenue grew by 4.6 per cent to $88.9 million for the three months to June 30, while net property income rose by 3.7 per cent to $72 million.

Distribution per unit was stable, the manager said. At 1.851 cents, it stood a hair's breadth higher than the 1.850 cents for the same period last year.