Singapore media giant to launch two new papers

MONOPOLY newspaper publisher Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) is to launch two new English-language papers, the company reported Thursday after unveiling upbeat annual profits.

SPH executive chairman Lim Kim San said the morning newspapers, one of which was likely to be an Internet-related product, would hit the streets next year, the Straits Times, SPH's flagship daily, reported.

SPH, which reported Wednesday a stronger-than-expected 17.5 percent jump in full year net profit to S$326.33 million (US$194.24 million), publishes almost every local newspaper in this island state of 3.7 million people, including a large foreign community.

The operating cost of the new newspapers had not been worked out but Lim said they would likely lose money before possibly turning the corner in about three years.

He dismissed suggestions that SPH was setting up the papers because of the threat of competition reportedly from a newspaper to be launched by Singapore's subway operator and listed Swedish media giant Modern Times Group (MTG).

Reports had said the newspaper would be distributed free at all mass rail transit stations and would be similar to what MTG has done in several European cities.

According to a poll by US market research firm ACNielsen published Thursday, more people in Singapore were reading daily newspapers despite the entry of new broadcasting stations here.

Newspaper readership rose from 85 percent last year to 87 percent in 1999, according to the survey which also showed newspapers had made gains in their market share at the expense of television whose share of the advertising dollar decreased.