CEO Business Review • Publishing & Printing ANTHONY CHEONG Acting Chief Executive Officer passion to enrich lives with outstanding quality and a Awell-established track record. 52 A Legacy Built on Passion A Milestone for Celebration BUSINESS OVERVIEW Revenue for the Publishing & Printing Group was down 5% Achieved Revenue of to $363 million. Adjusting for the closures of loss-making businesses of the Publishing Group (US Library and Reference, and Education Malaysia) as well as the export magazine $363M distribution business in Australia, revenue declined marginally by 1%. Although overseas demand for Education products remains strong and continues to grow, revenue for the ongoing businesses was dragged down by weaker performance of the magazine distribution business. Overall PBIT was 136% higher at Education Publishing continued to $10 million after taking into account contribute strongly to the Group’s PBIT grew the Group’s share of much improved profitability. Our long-term strategy of operating results from associated expanding outside our Singapore base companies. Excluding contributions saw positive results in recent years. 136% from associated companies, PBIT was The market for educational products to $10M 62% lower at $2 million. Savings from remained vibrant and we were able to the closures of loss-making businesses capitalise on it and expand our global were ploughed into investments to market presence, despite a fragile global expand the Education Publishing economy last year. While expanding overseas business. In addition, profits globally, we maintained our leadership were also adversely impacted by lower position in the Singapore market. revenue for both Print and Distribution, as well as one-off impairment charge made on plant and machinery. 53 Fraser and Neave, Limited & Subsidiary Companies Annual Report 2013 CEO Business Review • Publishing & Printing Our digital education division made Consequently, print volume increased Group, we successfully acquired positive inroads into key markets and by about 9% over last year. However, distribution rights for major brands such its research and development arm print prices were depressed by stiff as Thule and Nite Ize. helped us set the pace for the industry. competition and eroded overall margins. With our increased emphasis on Stringent cost management measures innovation and customer needs, our helped to reduce unit operating costs PUBLISHING education product offerings became but could not compensate for the It was an exciting and busy year for more sophisticated and comprehensive, decline in print selling prices. Publishing. Our Education brands providing targeted solutions to our gained strong global recognition with customers, be they educators, students While book distribution remained a distribution footprint currently across or parents. Digital components were relatively unaffected, magazine 40 countries, and continue to grow also better designed to seamlessly distribution saw revenues dip on lower worldwide. Sales to the US market complement the more traditional printed readership levels. Retail conditions were continued to contribute significantly to materials. also difficult, with low shopper traffic earnings. We made important inroads remaining a key concern for our retail into Chile with the adoption of our The Printing division, however, faced bookstores. Mathematics books in its primary school the brunt of a changing print landscape. curriculum. Our network of international Demand for the printing of books and To address the increasingly tougher partners and distributors continued to magazines from our traditional markets market, we reprioritised investments grow in strength. in the West, such as the US and the around growth opportunities and UK, fell. accelerated a number of initiatives. Significant investments were made in Savings from the discontinued loss- recruiting the best people in the trade, To counteract the shrinkage in demand, making businesses were channelled ensuring that our products remained an aggressive sales strategy was into strengthening and growing consistently at the forefront of adopted. We managed to renew various the Education Publishing business. education. key accounts, win back major contracts We stepped up efficiency programmes from competitors in Singapore, for the Printing division, diverting capital Our marketing programmes were Malaysia, Australia and Myanmar, and expenditure into this area. There was a intensive, and we saw encouraging secure new major accounts in China, renewed focus on the local print market results in our approach to the global Germany and Latin America. where print opportunities were still market place, with exciting innovative abundant. In the case of the Distribution products launched. 1. His Excellency Cheong Yip Seng giving his opening speech 1 2. His Excellency Cheong Yip Seng and Ms Lee Fei Chen being interviewed by the media 2 54 A Legacy Built on Passion A Milestone for Celebration Launch of Marshall Cavendish Education, Chile, and Marshall 3 Cavendish Institute, Chile It was with great pleasure that we hosted His Excellency Cheong Yip Seng, Singapore Ambassador to Chile, 3. Educators browsing through the at the opening ceremony of Marshall materials at the Marshall Cavendish Cavendish Education, Chile, and Education booth at WALS 2012 Marshall Cavendish Institute, Chile, 4. Our staff demonstrating how to use the on 25 October 2012. Held at Cerro eBook on an interactive whiteboard to a teacher Santa Lucia, Santiago, the opening 5. Teachers showing interest in the new ceremony marked the beginning of a range of textbook packages stronger brand presence in Chile. 6. One of the keynote sessions during WALS 2012 Through this official launch, Marshall Cavendish Education was able 4 5 to demonstrate our dedicated commitment and capability to produce holistic high quality education solutions to educators and learners beyond Singapore. To better meet the market needs in Chile, we also had a specially selected team of qualified bilingual trainers to provide customised teacher training. These teachers were trained 6 and certified by Marshall Cavendish Institute, Singapore. The World Association of Lesson Studies 2012 Marshall Cavendish Education, with our suite of well-researched professional development programmes, is recognised as the leading provider of Lesson Study training in Singapore. Our participation as sponsor and exhibitor in a key international Lesson Study Conference, such as the The World Association of Lesson Studies and reinforced our position as a provider Ministry of Education, Singapore, (“WALS”) conference at Nanyang of quality professional development as well as announced our position Technological University from 28 to 29 programmes. With our comprehensive as the sole textbook publisher for all November 2012, further reinforced this materials on display at the exhibitors’ Primary Science textbooks from 2014. reputation. Attended by 1,200 local area, we were able to demonstrate how and international educators, lecturers Marshall Cavendish Education is the We were also proud to showcase and professors, the conference was leading provider of holistic education the enhanced MC eBook with new the perfect platform for us to reach out solutions, offering materials from print to innovative digital elements that support to both local and international target digital and even teacher development the teaching and learning experience. audiences. programmes. At the event, teachers responded with positive feedback to our product Dr Yeap Ban Har, principal of Marshall 2014 Textbooks Launch (Singapore) offerings. The MC eBook is an epitome Cavendish Institute, chaired the of the 21st Century Competency tool presentation, ‘Developing Tools and In July, Marshall Cavendish Education that supports inventive thinking, Artifacts for Supporting Lesson Study launched the MCE 5-in-1 Power Pack self-directed and collaborative learning. and Instructional Improvement’. to all primary and secondary school His presentation highlighted the teachers in Singapore with the promise With this marked growth in product importance of using supporting to upsize their resources and downsize offerings, Marshall Cavendish Education resources, including technology, their workload. We unveiled the latest once again asserted its position as the to help teachers successfully observe range of products developed based leading provider of educational solutions and evaluate research lessons, on the 2014 syllabus provided by the in Singapore. 55 Fraser and Neave, Limited & Subsidiary Companies Annual Report 2013 CEO Business Review • Publishing & Printing 1 2 3 4 5 6 “Our focus on optimising content distribution saw growth 7 8 in other revenue streams for many of our titles” 56 A Legacy Built on Passion A Milestone for Celebration English Language Teaching allowed us to reach out to consumer sales were driven by online bestsellers markets that were previously restricted like Conversations with Lee Kuan Yew. Our publishing unit in Hong Kong by the limitations of physical distribution. In custom publishing, we successfully increased its publishing activity into showcased our services. We won the English Language Teaching (“ELT”) We continued to be a strong player tender for the SATS Group’s culinary materials. To date, it has published in our home turf of Singapore for project, Around the World, a collection more than 30 printed titles as well our Learning Management System of recipes by its award-winning chefs; as created