Summary Report 2015 People with Passion Corporate Profile Incorporated in 1984, main board-listed Singapore Press Holdings Ltd (SPH) is Asia’s leading media organisation, engaging minds and enriching lives across multiple languages and platforms. Media four student weeklies - zbCOMMA, The English/Malay/Tamil Media Thumbs Up, Thumbs Up Junior group comprises the print and digital and Thumbs Up Little Junior, operations of The Straits Times, ZbBz Newsgazine and My Paper The Business Times, The New Paper, (Chinese section). It also operates Berita Harian, My Paper (English SPH Radio’s Chinese radio station, section) and two student publications UFM100.3, and Focus Publishing, IN and Little Red Dot. It also consists which produces a range of books of Tamil Murasu Ltd, which publishes and magazines including U-Weekly. Tamil Murasu and tabla!; book publishing arm Straits Times Press; SPH’s other new media initiatives SPH Data Services, which licenses include AsiaOne, Stomp, omy.sg the use of the Straits Times Index, and SPH Razor. in partnership with the Singapore Exchange and FTSE Ltd; financial data SPH Magazines, SPH’s wholly-owned company ShareInvestor; and the two subsidiary, publishes and produces English stations of SPH Radio - Kiss92 more than 100 magazine titles and ONE FM 91.3. and has various online sites, like hardwarezone.com, herworldplus.com The Chinese Media group publishes and luxuryinsider.com in Singapore three Chinese newspapers - Lianhe and the region, covering a broad Zaobao, Lianhe Wanbao and Shin range of interests from lifestyle to Min Daily News; the digital editions of information technology. It has also Contents Lianhe Zaobao and Lianhe Wanbao, invested in digital newsstand Magzter. 03 Group Financial Highlights 04 Chairman’s Statement 08 Board of Directors 14 Further Information on Board of Directors 18 CEO’s Overview of Group Operations 34 Organisation Structure 35 Corporate Information 36 Investor Relations 38 Investor Reference 40 Summary Financial Statement 54 Shareholding Statistics 56 Notice of Annual General Meeting Proxy Form Request Form SPH also provides Out-of-Home Other Businesses Education (OOH) advertising through its digital SPH has a 22 per cent stake in out-of-home platform SPHMBO. Online Classifieds preschool and enrichment provider SPH’s online classifieds include ST701, MindChamps. SPH Buzz is a modern retail the leading online marketplace for convenience chain with a network jobs (STJobs), property (STProperty), For more information, please visit of stores around the island. cars (STCars) and general classifieds www.sph.com.sg. (STClassifieds), sgCarMart and SPH has a 20 per cent stake in StreetSine. Our Brand Statement MediaCorp TV Holdings Pte Ltd, To be Asia’s Leading Media which operates free-to-air channels SPH’s regional joint venture online Organisation, Engaging Minds and 5, 8 and U, and a 40 per cent stake classifieds business has a number of Enriching Lives, Across Multiple in MediaCorp Press Limited, which leading online classifieds sites in the Languages and Platforms. publishes the free newspaper, Today. region. Our Core Values (EXCITE) Properties Events and Exhibitions EXcellence SPH REIT is a Singapore-based REIT Sphere Exhibits, Sphere Conferences, Customer-focus established to invest in a portfolio Exhibits Inc and Bizlink Exhibition Integrity of income-producing real estate Services organise innovative consumer Teamwork primarily for retail purposes. SPH REIT and trade events and exhibitions as Embracing Change comprises Paragon, a premier upscale well as large scale conferences in retail mall and medical suite/office Singapore and the region. property in Orchard Road and The Clementi Mall, a mid-market suburban mall in the centre of Clementi town. The Seletar Mall, located in Sengkang, is SPH’s latest retail development. This property is a potential asset to be injected into SPH REIT. SPH’s wholly- owned subsidiary, Times Development Pte Ltd, also developed a 43-storey upmarket residential condominium, Sky@eleven, at Thomson Road. Passion to Inform With the passion to make a difference with the power of words, we help people make informed decisions as well as bring stories to light. Our words help define the issues of our time and our future. Passion to Inspire The airwaves are the gateway to our realms of inspiration. Providing us with the platform to have meaningful and engaging conversations with our listeners while entertaining them with a passion. Passion to Innovate The technological revolution that has influenced the media landscape is in constant evolution. We are not just content to keep pace with these advances but work passionately to find innovative ways to connect consumers and our operations to each other and to the world. Passion to Captivate Maximising exposure and the ability to connect businesses with the right audience is an art form. We believe in opening up a world of opportunities for businesses and are driven by a passion to see our captivating ideas come to fruition. Passion to Collaborate Passion is an intangible asset that cannot be felt but can be seen with actions. As such, we approach every collaboration with our tenants with a dedicated purpose in making their brands come to the forefront and resonate with shoppers. Singapore Press Holdings Summary Report 2015 03 Group Financial Highlights for the financial year ended August 31, 2015 2015 2014 Change S$’000 S$’000 % Operating revenue 1,177,080 1,215,184 (3.1) Operating profit# 353,500 348,963 1.3 Profit before taxation 430,245 528,391 (18.6) Profit after taxation 370,422 470,736 (21.3) Non-controlling interests (48,721) (66,450) (26.7) Profit attributable to shareholders 321,701 404,286 (20.4) Shareholders’ interests 3,618,813 3,687,095 (1.9) Total assets 6,070,042 6,651,396 (8.7) Total liabilities 1,723,392 2,255,213 (23.6) Non-controlling interests 727,837 709,088 2.6 Dividends declared for the financial year 322,855 339,412 (4.9) Profitability ratios % % % points Operating margin^ 30.0 28.7 1.3 Return on operating revenue 27.3 33.3 (6.0) Return on shareholders’ funds 8.9 11.0 (2.1) Per share data % Net assets attributable to shareholders (S$) 2.24 2.28 (1.8) Profit attributable to shareholders (S$) 0.20 0.25 (20.0) Dividends declared for the financial year (cents)## 20 21 (4.8) Dividend cover for the financial year (times) 1.0 1.2 (16.7) Value added S$ S$ % Per employee 201,877 203,756 (0.9) Per $ employment costs 2.28 2.26 0.9 Per $ investment in property, plant and equipment (before depreciation) 0.87 0.87 - Per $ operating revenue 0.73 0.72 1.4 # This represents the recurring earnings of the media, property and other businesses. ^ Computed based on recurring earnings. ## These dividends are tax-exempt. The proposed final dividend of 13 cents per share, comprising a normal dividend of 8 cents per share and a special dividend of 5 cents per share, is subject to approval by shareholders at the Annual General Meeting on December 1, 2015. 04 Singapore Press Holdings Summary Report 2015 Chairman’s Statement Lee Boon Yang Chairman Singapore Press Holdings Summary Report 2015 05 SPH managed to turn in a creditable performance in Financial Year 2014/2015 with a net profit of $321.7 million. The past financial year witnessed To reward our loyal shareholders, considerable global market the Board has proposed a dividend Group Net Profit uncertainty and currency volatility. of 13 cents per share, comprising a The Greek crisis, coupled with Normal Dividend of 8 cents per share China’s economic slowdown, and a Special Dividend of 5 cents impacted the world economy and per share in respect of the financial Singapore too. SPH’s performance year ended 31 August 2015. We had was affected by these wider earlier declared and paid an interim economic conditions. dividend of 7 cents per share. Despite these unfavourable FY2015 was also a special year as $321.7m conditions, SPH managed to turn in SPH celebrated Singapore’s golden a creditable performance in Financial jubilee with a variety of events to Year 2014/2015 with a net profit of engage the public. These included the $321.7 million. This represents a Sing50 concert by The Straits Times Group Operating 20.4 per cent decrease compared and The Business Times, as well as Revenue to the last financial year. But this was the SG50 Sing-Along organised mainly due to a lower fair value gain by our Chinese Media group. on investment properties and the The Straits Times and Zaobao.com one-off gain in the previous year from also celebrated their 170th and a partial divestment. 20th anniversaries respectively. At the operating level, the Group Enhancing our Core Media performed respectably. Group Products $1,177m recurring earnings of $353.5 million We reorganised our newspaper was higher by $4.5 million. divisions and transformed them into integrated operations, Revenue from the Media business producing both print and digital was $902.5 million, a $60.9 million content across all platforms and or 6.3 per cent decline from last encompassing adjacent businesses. year. This was attributable to The renamed English/Malay/Tamil declines in both advertising revenue Media group, comprises not only ($53.7 million or 7.4 per cent) and the print and digital operations of circulation revenue ($10.1 million The Straits Times, The Business or 5.4 per cent). Times, The New Paper, Berita Harian, Tamil Murasu and My Paper The lower contribution from its Media (English section), but also several business was cushioned by higher media-related subsidiaries. These property revenue. The consistent include book subsidiary The Straits efforts we have made over the years Times Press, the two English stations to diversify the Group’s operations of SPH Radio (Kiss92 and have paid dividends.