Singapore Press Holdings (SPH)

[Temperament]

The Gov. no matter still need a form of communication to inform, instruct and influence the Sings.

But today, only TODAY is FOC online.

i think St T., BT used to be free online too.

When it is FOC, there are more people tend to read like
Google, Yahoo and what not?

And I think any major happenings in Singapore usually will be reported in Yahoo.news too. And some other FOC onlines. Why pay then? Just Google and U will find what want to know.

TODAY is FOC is not actually FOC for nothing.

[karlmarx]

There are so many good companies out there. Why waste time on SPH? As other buddies had said, the property earnings will be used to subsidize the falling media business.

Indeed, there are number of 'good companies out there.' But they are seldom priced at a level that makes them a bargain, or as some would say, value investment.

It is always useful to revist companies, including those whose price have fallen precipitously. Perhaps, after reassessment, one may find that the situation isn't as bad as it seems. 

It is not certain that SPH's media business will become unprofitable, though at this point, the probability of it is higher than before.

Home-based internet gained acceptance around 2000. A year before that, what is probably Singapore's first 'socio-political blog' -- Think Centre -- was launched. Facebook became widely used in Singapore, perhaps from 2005. Smartphones became popular, from 2010. But the decline of SPH papers only became obvious about a few years ago. Could an investor have put all these bits of information together and conclude that the media/news market in Singapore will be 'liberated?' Maybe. But from the pricing of SPH in 2010/2011, it does not appear that the market knows/understands what is about to happen to traditional media business in Singapore.

Does the market know/understand what is going to happen to the traditional media business in Singapore, in the future? An investor interested in SPH needs to do his/her own homework to answer this question.

[karlmarx]

The Gov. no matter still need a form of communication to inform, instruct and influence the Sings.

But today, only TODAY is FOC online.

i think St T., BT used to be free online too.

When it is FOC, there are more people tend to read like
Google, Yahoo and what not?

And I think any major happenings in Singapore usually will be reported in Yahoo.news too. And some other FOC onlines. Why pay then? Just Google and U will find what want to know.

TODAY is FOC is not actually FOC for nothing.

Certainly, they are not FOC for nothing. 

But there are more digital newspapers going free or lowering their price.

South China Morning Post is free, and I read it for the international and regional news. It does not cover all the topic I would like to read, but hey, its free.

If one is interested in salacious local stories, there are plenty on Facebook by 'interest groups' and/or aggrieved individuals.

But if ST and BT lower their price substantially for digital subscription, I will gladly sign up.

[Big Toe]

Onto information gathering and analysis, business times probably would be a better read for investing.
As for the quality of reporting/analysis, the bigger global news agencies would definitely be better but they dont cover local companies and events.

To be a better investor, there are 2 things that one can do

1. Own and run a small business yourself.
2. In the industry one is in, understand all the dynamics of how money is made and what affects profitability.

For myself I specialize in a few specific areas, wont name all but plastics is one of my area of specialization.
Which enabled me to profit from Fuyu(too cheap to ignore at ard 10cts) and Fischer Tech(High quality customers and trading extremely low valuations back then)
For these companies, the quality of customers is one key factor that determines how profitable a project/company is.

I do have a deep understanding of the plastic resins, their cost.
The fabrication process and cost of the steel molds
The running rate for injection machines
The calculation of the plastic parts cost
Margins for different customers belonging to different industries (Consumer electronic, Fast moving consumer products, Medical, Automotive, etc)
I sound like a show off but the point is a whole lot of work is needed and it is easier to make a decision with a higher chance of success once you understand the business.
Buffet was hugely successful partly because he did not buy anything he did not understand completely.

[TerryT]

I guessed the dropped of hardcopy sale was partly ignited by the increases of newspaper prices in 2016 which had broke the habit of readers’ pocket. With less interesting news = yield less pages per copy, higher hardcopy price and more affordable/ free online news.

Not just revenue downhill, SPH circulation fixed cost had been a drag to their bottom line. They had been cutting cost by shifting part of their operation, cut down operation spending, cut down overheads.

It still remain to be seen how it will stop/ improve their bottom line from the media business.

Although their property business is generating good profit margins, but it seem like an industry for companies to diversity when their core business ain’t doing well.

[gzbkel]

Instead, I will recommend books on history, politics, and economics -- preferably those that intertwine these three topics -- followed by books on industry-specific topics.

Hi karlmarx, thanks as always for sharing your insight. Are there any particular books you would recommend, especially those that help in understanding the relationships between politics and economy?

[blackclock]

Regional newspaper provide a more balanced view of situation. Usually our local newspaper will try to cover up some of the ugly news, in order to protect local jobs.

[karlmarx]

Hi karlmarx, thanks as always for sharing your insight. Are there any particular books you would recommend, especially those that help in understanding the relationships between politics and economy?

There is a name for this academic discipline, and it is known as 'political economy.'

I must be upfront that my understanding/perception of 'how the world works' may be different from many others, and hence may not be correct/accurate. 

Some believe that the functioning of societies are dependent on cooperation between people performing different roles; much like how each of the different organ of the human body play a function that is vital to allowing a person to survive and thrive. Such benign illustrations of cooperation are particularly useful to mobilise masses of people towards a common goal. But some, such as myself, are inclined towards the belief that certain 'organs' posses more economic and political resources than others, and are more than likely to use their economic and political resources to gain even more of it. Such views are generally not welcome, because it creates distrust, which may lead to disorder.

As my handle would suggest, my intellectual framework is heavily influenced by the scholarship of Karl Marx. Marx was both a scholar and an activist, but it was the latter which he was remembered for. The failure of the communist experiment -- which in reality is simply a vehicle through which certain small groups seized and consolidated power; they were not unlike the people they overthrew -- is often equated with the weakness of his scholarship. 

While I remain biased towards a Marxist framework, my interest is in gaining a coherent understanding of the world. So that's how it is for now, until I can figure out something else that makes better sense.

I will not recommend anything actually written by Marx; they are far too difficult for most to appreciate. If you are really interested, they are easily accessible online. Instead, I will recommend some of these other works, which are contextualized in a country, and written with/from a more or less Marxist perspective. I have probably mentioned some of these before. And to forewarn, they are easier, but not easy, to read. In any case, these are some which I find particularly insightful, if not occasionally depressing:

Americana: A 400-Year History of American Capitalism, by Bhu Srinivasan
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3427...earch=true

Liem Sioe Liong's Salim Group: The Business Pillar of Suharto's Indonesia, by Richard Borsuk, Nancy Chng
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2281...earch=true

Chinese Business in Malaysia: Accumulation, Ascendance, Accommodation, by Edmund Terence Gomez
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2386...earch=true

The Modern Principalia: The Historical Evolution of the Philippine Ruling Oligarchy, by Dante C. Simbulan
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1140...earch=true

Thaksin, by Pasuk Phongpaichit, Chris Baker
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7509...earch=true

The King Never Smiles: A Biography of Thailand's Bhumibol Adulyadej, by Paul M. Handley
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1499...earch=true


Most of these books are difficult to locate, so you'll most likely have to get your hands on them through Amazon or Kinokuniya. I bought 'Liem Sioe Liong's Salim Group' from ISEAS (NUS) where they gave also me a 20% discount for walk-in purchase. There were other books on discount as well, but they are generally not very readable/useful.

[gzbkel]

Thank you for the reading list, karlmarx. Is nice to know more non-US centric books. I found 1, 2, 6 on the national library's epub collection. Its a start!

[Shiyi]

SPH used to be a cash-rich company. No longer now. Which means that investors have to watch out its gearing and the sustainability of dividend payout.