PETALING JAYA: Singapore Press Holdings, which publishes The Straits Times, as well as various English and non-English publications, is said to be planning to reduce its workforce. Quoting three sources “with knowledge on the matter”, Bloomberg reported that the downsizing was part of a restructuring effort that would also see two daily publications merged into one. “SPH is planning to merge The New Paper and My Paper. The company also plans to cut 5 to 10 per cent of its workforce, mostly part-time workers,” the financial publication quoted its sources as saying.
The New Paper is a popular afternoon tabloid that was started in 1988, while My Paper was launched in 2006 as a Chinese-language free tabloid. My Paper was revamped just two years later as the first bilingual – Chinese and English – newspaper in the country, and quite possibly the region, according to the SPH website. The report added that SPH Deputy Chief Executive Officer Patrick Daniel will be addressing all staff in a town hall meeting possibly this week, to discuss the restructuring. Bloomberg said SPH replied via email to queries on the matter, simply stating that they would not respond to speculation. SPH are also expected to release their financial report for the year ending Aug 31 on Friday, with a Morgan Stanley analyst speculating that the company will show a decline in media revenue and net income in its third quarter. Gross revenue from the newspapers and magazine arm, which is SPH’s biggest business group, has fallen for four consecutive years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. 秋風來了,寒冬還會遠嗎?
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