The New Paper (TNP) will cease its Saturday edition and become a five-day publication from next year.

The last Saturday edition will run on Dec 30, while weekday editions will continue to be available for free both in print and online.

TNP, a freesheet with a daily average circulation of 300,000 copies, targets professionals, executives, managers and technicians (PMETs) with news on local affairs, the economy, property, business, sports, lifestyle and bread-and-butter issues.

Addressing the change, TNP editor Eugene Wee emphasised the importance of catering to the paper's audience. "A large percentage of our readers are PMETs who work five-day work weeks. Furthermore, Saturday travel patterns of readers are getting more varied as people go about their weekend activities.

"Hence, we have decided to focus our resources on weekdays to give our readers the best of news, sports and lifestyle stories."

TNP has undergone several changes since its launch as an afternoon tabloid in 1988. It became a morning daily in 2006.

It underwent a revamp last year, merging with the bilingual freesheet My Paper, also owned by Singapore Press Holdings. The revamp also saw TNP cease its Sunday edition.

It is now Singapore's only freesheet.