Singapore Press Holdings (SPH)

[Temperament]

Warren Buffett’s Letter to Newly Acquired Publishers and Editors

http://www.gurufocus.com/news/178231/war...nd-editors

Tks for the link. i think WB wold have love to takeover SPH if he could base on those criterias that he listed below:
(1) The town or city had two or more competing dailies; -- sph is a monopoly

(2) the paper lost its position as the primary source of information important to its readers, or -- sph is still the only source either electronically or in print

(3) the town or city did not have a pervasive self-identity. -- singapore brand is still strong

Fully agreed with WB views on newspaper biz.

In VB, the majority of the topics discussed are from the SPH's newspapers content. Imagine one day, if we will not refer to SPH newspaper content anymore, our discussion scope will be highly limited.

One last point, i believe the shareholding of SPH is restricted to oversea investor, but i am not sure the detail.

Yes, you are right. Not only that at AGM or EGM voting is skew towards the "PAPYS" due to the restricted local holdings too or something like that. i think someone (DOG) had elaborated before. Another words, from "Old Man's" time, Papys ensures nobody in Singapore can own >50.1% of SPH except you know who directly or indirectly.

If you are old enough, you will remember:-
The Singapore Herald saga

Enjoy this Historical extract from INT.

{ON 28 May 1971, the publishing licence of independent newspaper the Singapore Herald was suspended by the government, which accused it of being involved in "black operations", of being funded by questionable foreign sources, of working up agitation against national policies and institutions, and of "taking on the government". }

So you see why Singaporeans think SPH is never an independent Press.

[Temperament]

About Me
My Photo

Subra
A Singaporean firmly believing in Liberty, Freedom of Expression and a system of government based on checks and balances

http://article14.blogspot.sg/2012/05/med...oblem.html

Thursday, May 31, 2012
The media in Singapore: A structural problem

Many Singaporeans will readily acknowledge (however much the MSM may protest otherwise) that there is an inherent slant in the local news that favours the ruling PAP. Some techniques are pretty obvious whilst others are quite subtle. The newspapers here have for a long time been assisting the state in building a narrative about our society and its politics. Much of the slanted views have entered into the collective psyche of the nation to a point where Singaporeans would readily agree with many fundamental arguments put forward by the ruling PAP.

Looking beyond the the way the the traditional media reports news, it is worthwhile reminding ourselves of the structural aspects of the newspaper industry in Singapore. The possession of a printing press, the printing of a newspaper and its circulation and the formation and operation of newspaper companies are tightly controled by the government through the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act.


Firstly, by virtue of S.3 of the Act, the keeping and using of a printing press is subject to licensing by the Minister. If a licence is refused or withdrawn, an appeal can be made to the President. But, does the President have discretion in this matter? Well, we have to look at the Singapore Constitution:

Article 21.
—(1) Except as provided by this Constitution, the President shall, in the exercise of his functions under this Constitution or any other written law, act in accordance with the advice of the Cabinet or of a Minister acting under the general authority of the Cabinet.


Thus the President's decision making under s.3 of the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act is subject to acting in accordance with the advice of the Cabinet.

So, if I were to apply for a licence to operate a printing press and it were to be rejected by MICA, I can appeal to the President. The President will then be told by the Cabinet to reject my licence anyway. It is a mockery of common sense. But, that is the law.

Secondly, the management of newspaper companies is controlled under sections 9 and 10 of the Newspaper and Priting Presses Act. The management shareholders of a newspaper company are persons approved by the Minister. Newspaper companies are not in a position to refuse the appointment of these management shareholders. The Minister's decision can be appealed to the President. the President's powers are subject to Article 21 of the Constitution.

Additionally, the management shareholders have 200 votes for every share that they hold in relation to hiring and firing decisions. As a result of this arrangment, the government approved management shareholders have effective control over the newspaper companies.

Section 10(11)of the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act is as follows:

"The holder of management shares shall be entitled either on a poll or by a show of hands to 200 votes for each management share held by him upon any resolution relating to the appointment or dismissal of a director or any member of the staff of a newspaper company but shall in all other respects have the same voting rights as the holder of ordinary shares."


Not happy with an article written by a journalist? No problem. Government approved management shareholders are on hand to fire him.

Journalists and reporters may want to perform their job impartially. But, there are structural aspects to our print media that prevent the aspiration for media independence to be truly realised.
Posted by Subra at 2:53 AM
Labels: media Thursday, May 31, 2012
Presses Act.

---

About Me
My Photo

Subra
A Singaporean firmly believing in Liberty, Freedom of Expression and a system of government based on checks and balances

http://article14.blogspot.sg/2012/05/med...oblem.html

Thursday, May 31, 2012
The media in Singapore: A structural problem

Many Singaporeans will readily acknowledge (however much the MSM may protest otherwise) that there is an inherent slant in the local news that favours the ruling PAP. Some techniques are pretty obvious whilst others are quite subtle. The newspapers here have for a long time been assisting the state in building a narrative about our society and its politics. Much of the slanted views have entered into the collective psyche of the nation to a point where Singaporeans would readily agree with many fundamental arguments put forward by the ruling PAP.

Looking beyond the the way the the traditional media reports news, it is worthwhile reminding ourselves of the structural aspects of the newspaper industry in Singapore. The possession of a printing press, the printing of a newspaper and its circulation and the formation and operation of newspaper companies are tightly controled by the government through the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act.


Firstly, by virtue of S.3 of the Act, the keeping and using of a printing press is subject to licensing by the Minister. If a licence is refused or withdrawn, an appeal can be made to the President. But, does the President have discretion in this matter? Well, we have to look at the Singapore Constitution:

Article 21.
—(1) Except as provided by this Constitution, the President shall, in the exercise of his functions under this Constitution or any other written law, act in accordance with the advice of the Cabinet or of a Minister acting under the general authority of the Cabinet.


Thus the President's decision making under s.3 of the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act is subject to acting in accordance with the advice of the Cabinet.

So, if I were to apply for a licence to operate a printing press and it were to be rejected by MICA, I can appeal to the President. The President will then be told by the Cabinet to reject my licence anyway. It is a mockery of common sense. But, that is the law.

Secondly, the management of newspaper companies is controlled under sections 9 and 10 of the Newspaper and Priting Presses Act. The management shareholders of a newspaper company are persons approved by the Minister. Newspaper companies are not in a position to refuse the appointment of these management shareholders. The Minister's decision can be appealed to the President. the President's powers are subject to Article 21 of the Constitution.

Additionally, the management shareholders have 200 votes for every share that they hold in relation to hiring and firing decisions. As a result of this arrangment, the government approved management shareholders have effective control over the newspaper companies.

Section 10(11)of the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act is as follows:

"The holder of management shares shall be entitled either on a poll or by a show of hands to 200 votes for each management share held by him upon any resolution relating to the appointment or dismissal of a director or any member of the staff of a newspaper company but shall in all other respects have the same voting rights as the holder of ordinary shares."


Not happy with an article written by a journalist? No problem. Government approved management shareholders are on hand to fire him.

Journalists and reporters may want to perform their job impartially. But, there are structural aspects to our print media that prevent the aspiration for media independence to be truly realised.
Posted by Subra at 2:53 AM
Labels: media Thursday, May 31, 2012
Presses Act.

My opinion only:
In a way i am being "Brained Washed" all these years until the Internet era, now. NO more.

[CityFarmer]

The latest CIMB report on SPH

https://brokingrfs.cimb.com/9z4KWiF94FhX...99znV0.pdf

Singapore Press Holdings
Pseudo retail REIT
Newspaper | - by Siew Ling TAN
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With a growing retail property arm and stable media business, SPH is increasingly like a retail REIT with limited cash-call risks, in our view. Offering forward yields of 6.4% vs. 6.1% for retail S-REITs after its YTD underperformance, we think it offers a cheaper alternative. We raise our EPS marginally on property rental adjustments and our SOP target price after rolling one year forward. We also raise DPS on less conservative payout assumptions. Upgrade from Neutral to Outperform. We see catalysts from higher-than-expected ad growth.

[CityFarmer]

http://info.sgx.com/webcorannc.nsf/Annou...endocument

Singapore Press Holdings Limited wishes to announce that it will release its financial results for the Third Quarter ended 31 May 2012 on Friday, 13 July 2012

Share price jump in the last 2 days, anticipating a good 3Q result?

[shanrui_91]

has SPH reached the targeted selling price? I don't even see any CD going on

[KopiKat]

has SPH reached the targeted selling price? I don't even see any CD going on

It's not just SPH, quite a few of the non-existent (some don't believe there's such a class) 'defensive' stocks had been going up for no reasons (no change in fundamentals etc.). I'd been happily selling many of my such stocks (except for SPH as it only did the bigger jumps over the last couple of days) and the common thing I see is a higher than usual volume + CP of non-local brokerage (Foreign Funds parking their spare cash here?).

I'll likely sell the SPH shares (which I seemed to have so conveniently bought recently at $3.78) next week if it creeps up a few more cents (since there's no cd symbol to provide price support). But, I'm starting to get sleepless nights as I'm having an ever increasing problem of being unable to find alternatives to switch to!

I reproduce part of my post from Pg 24 of this thread to explain why I'd started buying back @ $3.78,

If we take a closer look at their latest figures, I'm proposing that we classify SPH as a Low Growth Stock (promote from No Growth) with effect from Feb-12 quarter. This will only last for 1 year max.

My justification - Clementi Mall full contribution just started ie. On a y-o-y basis, I see a Revenue Growth of 4% and Net Profit Growth of 16%. This is likely Net of +ve contribution from Exhibitions and -ve ones from declining Core Paper biz. The chances of y-on-y growth for the next 3 Quarters are high.

As such, I'm proposing we shift the Buy-Sell Band accordingly. A 4% (let's be conservative and use Revenue Growth rather than Net Profit Growth) shift means $3.6x/$3.9x becomes $3.7x/$4.0x (we'll also watch the next Quarter results closely to tweak this if required). This will of course be negated if STI should drop by 10% (I anyhow pluck from the air). In such an event, we'll have to gaze at the crystal ball to come up with a new band.

[Drizzt]

got invested at 3.78. surprised it moves up. hope that their property recurring income builds up. right now investment and proprty is only 33% of full dividends.

[Temperament]

imho.
i don't think European is so stupid to allow the euro dollars to collapse. The possibility of kicking out Greece or some other country is possible. But all Europe has to do is continue printing money. So unless the world has no faith in Euro $ which i think is unlikely, the Euro $ will survive. Asian countries are just learning how to print money. But they don't have the large economy to back up like US or Euro. One day China may have a large economy like US or Euro to play the same game of printing money. Imagine Sinkapore starts to print money as much as US, who will accept our money then? For that matter will you accept or stashed up on the dongs? i am wrong about the Euro $. Sell some of my my stocks too early. But at least they are all profitable. Ah....... But i am still selling slowly.............

[Some-one]

imho.
i don't think European is so stupid to allow the euro dollars to collapse. The possibility of kicking out Greece or some other country is possible. But all Europe has to do is continue printing money. So unless the world has no faith in Euro $ which i think is unlikely, the Euro $ will survive. Asian countries are just learning how to print money. But they don't have the large economy to back up like US or Euro. One day China may have a large economy like US or Euro to play the same game of printing money. Imagine Sinkapore starts to print money as much as US, who will accept our money then? For that matter will you accept or stashed up on the dongs? i am wrong about the Euro $. Sell some of my my stocks too early. But at least they are all profitable. Ah....... But i am still selling slowly.............

There is a difference between USD and EUR. EUR is used by different countries in Europe and each country has their own soverigenty and voters. US can print as much money as they want but Europe would need to get permission from different countries.

[CityFarmer]

SPH revamps its online jobs portal, STJobs, formally known as ST701Jobs.

You may notice full-pages of advert on SPH newspaper, either on zaobao or ST on STjobs recently.

Is the job search market competition heat-up or SPH re-focus on the portal?