engaging minds enriching lives

Transcription

1 engaging minds enriching lives summary financial report 2009

2 CORPORATE PROFILE Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) is Southeast Asia s leading media organisation, engaging minds and enriching lives across multiple languages and platforms. We publish 17 newspaper titles in four languages and more than 100 magazines. Every day, 3 million individuals, or 79 per cent of people above 15 years old, read one of our publications. The online editions of our main newspapers enjoy some 150 million page views with 9 million unique visitors every month. Our success is built on the long history and rich heritage of our two flagship newspapers The Straits Times, the English-language daily and Lianhe Zaobao, the Chinese-language daily. The other two dailies, Berita Harian and Tamil Murasu, remain the staple for the Malay-speaking and Tamil-speaking communities respectively. These four major newspapers, together with The New Paper, a daily tabloid, and The Business Times, the leading financial daily in Singapore, also provide online news to SPH s Internet portal, AsiaOne. SPH s online and new media initiatives include online marketplace for products, services and employment, ST701; local search and directory engine, rednano.sg; Stomp (Straits Times Online Mobile Print), a portal that connects, engages and interacts with readers on the Web and via mobile phone messaging; omy, a bilingual news and interactive portal and The Straits Times RazorTV, a free access interactive webcast service offering live chat shows and video-on-demand clips. We also operate two popular radio channels, 91.3 FM in English and Radio in Mandarin, under an 80 per cent-owned joint venture company, SPH UnionWorks, with NTUC Media. Both channels leverage on the brand name and resources of our print newsrooms, giving them that unique edge. SPH has a 20 per cent stake in MediaCorp TV Holdings Pte Ltd, which operates freeto-air channels 5, 8, U and TV Mobile, and a 40 per cent stake in MediaCorp Press Ltd, which publishes the free newspaper, Today. In addition, SPH has ventured into outdoor advertising through our whollyowned subsidiary, SPH MediaBoxOffice Pte Ltd, Singapore s largest outdoor motion display advertising network media company. On the property front, SPH owns and manages Paragon, the prime retail and office complex in the heart of Orchard Road, Singapore s main shopping belt. Our wholly-owned subsidiary, Times Development Pte Ltd, is also developing a 43-storey upmarket residential condominium, Sky@eleven, at Thomson Road. As an industry leader, we are an active corporate citizen and support various community and charity causes, ranging from education, arts and culture, wildlife conservation and sports. At SPH, we are always striving to do more than just inform, educate and entertain.

3 WE LOOK TO OUR PAST WITH PRIDE CONTENTS IFC Corporate Profile 10 Group at a Glance 12 Group Financial Highlights 13 Chairman s Statement 16 CEO s Overview of Group Operations 26 Significant Events 29 Corporate Social Responsibility 32 Awards & Accolades 34 Investor Relations 35 Investor Reference 37 Summary Financial Statements 47 Options and Awards 48 Shareholding Statistics 50 Notice of Annual General Meeting 56 Corporate Information Proxy Form Request Form

4 1984 THE STORY BEGINS Merger of Chinese and English newspaper groups The New Paper, an afternoon newspaper goes on sale Launch of AsiaOne and online newspaper products The Straits Times marks its 150th anniversary SPH takes over Tamil Murasu SPH buys Paragon at Orchard Road Lianhe Zaobao celebrates its 80 th birthday Times Periodicals is renamed SPH Magazines

5 SPH ventures into outdoor advertising with SPH MediaBoxOffice ST701, online CATS Classified, goes live SPH launches my paper, a free daily SPH introduces Sky@eleven, its first property development Launch of first local search and directory engine, rednano.sg ST RazorTV, SPH s Internet TV, goes live tabla!, a weekly paper for the Indian diaspora, is published Sphere Exhibits, SPH s events arm, debuts with Food Safari show 2009 THE JOURNEY CONTINUES

6 Launch of SPH s new corporate logo. (From left to right) Prof Cham Tao Soon, Deputy Chairman, SPH; then-mica Minister Dr Lee Boon Yang; President S R Nathan; Dr Tony Tan, Chairman, SPH; Acting MICA Minster Lui Tuck Yew and Mr Alan Chan, Chief Executive Officer, SPH 30 March 09 SPH launches new corporate logo to signal future direction With SPH moving beyond print, it is time to rebrand ourselves to better represent our current portfolio and future direction. Dr. Tony Tan, Chairman, SPH

7 AND TO OUR FUTURE WITH CONFIDENCE. Over the past 25 years, SPH has grown into a leading regional media organisation with a spectrum of products including the 164-year-old English flagship daily, The Straits Times, and the 86-year-old Chinese daily, Lianhe Zaobao. Our rich heritage also encompasses over 50 years for Berita Harian and more than 75 years for Tamil Murasu. An innovative and forward-thinking brand, we thrive on delivering unparalleled content in multiple languages across various media platforms. We have consistently provided our consumers with more and better options when it comes to news, information and entertainment. We strive to find new and innovative ways in the creation and dissemination of content that will remain meaningful in the lives of our consumers, now and in the future. That is our pride, our privilege and our continuing commitment as epitomised by our new brand promise of engaging minds, enriching lives. As we build upon our proud history, we remain confident in our future to inform, educate and entertain with: INTEGRITY PASSION FREEDOM EASE

8 Informing With INTEGRITY Everyday, millions of people are enlightened by the quality and credibility of our content. We bring the world to our readers through compelling coverage of people and events that define lives and societies. We recognise that our journalistic integrity is at the heart of our success past, present and future. It s who we are and what we are about. SUMMARY FINANCIAL REPORT 2009

9 Entertaining With PAS SION At SPH Magazines, our passion to inform and entertain is at the core of everything we do. With 40 years of experience and more than 100 titles covering a wide spectrum of topics, we have a unique relationship with our readers, providing them with moments of delight, inspiration and entertainment.

10 Surfing With FREEDOM Whether in the comfort of their homes or basking under sunny skies, our consumers are simply a click away from the news, information and entertainment that matters most to them. With more than 150 million page views, our news, lifestyle and service portals are read by individuals including the movers and shakers of industries across Asia.

11 Connecting With EASE Day or night, 24/7, we are making the world a little smaller. Our suite of interactive services such as Breaking News reaches our mobile subscribers instantaneously and with consummate ease. Speed and mobility are redefi ning the media experience thanks to technological innovation. We connect our consumers to the future of media, making sure the information they need is always on hand.

12 10 Singapore Press Holdings GROUP AT A GLANCE NEWSPAPERS With print as its core business, SPH publishes 17 newspaper titles in four languages. Every day, 3 million individuals or 79 per cent of people above 15 years old, read one of SPH s news publications. With more than 1,000 journalists, including correspondents operating in 20 cities around the world, SPH is well-equipped with the talent and network to deliver quality news and information that covers both domestic and international markets. MAGAZINES SPH Magazines publishes over 100 magazine titles in Singapore and the region, covering a broad range of interests from fashion, bridal, society, automobiles, parenting, décor and information technology. It also provides custom editorial and publishing services covering lifestyle magazines and newsletters. It strives to bring its titles to global markets through acquisition of franchises for well-known international titles to affirm its position as the publisher of choice. INTERNET AND NEW MEDIA SPH s online editions of its key newspapers enjoy over 150 million page views with 9 million unique visitors every month. SPH has also expanded into other new media initiatives such as online marketplace for products, services and employment, ST701; local search and directory engine, rednano.sg; Stomp (Straits Times Online Mobile Print), a portal that connects, engages and interacts with readers on the Web and via mobile phone messaging; omy, a bilingual news and interactive portal and The Straits Times RazorTV, a free access interactive webcast service offering live chat shows and video-on-demand clips.

13 summary financial report BROADCASTING SPH has a 20 per cent stake in MediaCorp TV Holdings Pte Ltd, which operates free-to-air channels 5, 8, U and TV Mobile, and a 40 per cent stake in MediaCorp Press Ltd, which publishes the free newspaper, Today. In the radio business, SPH has a 80 per cent stake in SPH UnionWorks Pte Ltd, which operates entertainment stations Radio in Mandarin and 91.3FM in English, together with partner NTUC Media. OUTDOOR MEDIA SPH MediaBoxOffice Pte Ltd is Singapore s largest outdoor motion display advertising network media company. Its advertising footprint covers five large LED screens and about 600 plasma & LCD screens in commercial buildings island-wide. It also operates large-format billboards, banners and other static outdoor media platforms. PROPERTIES SPH owns and manages Paragon, the prime retail and office complex in the heart of Orchard Road, Singapore s main shopping belt. It houses some of the world s leading luxury brands. SPH s wholly-owned subsidiary, Times Development Pte Ltd, is also developing a 43-storey upmarket residential condominium, Sky@eleven, at Thomson Road. The development will comprise four towers housing a total of 273 units of 4-bedroom apartments and large penthouses.

14 12 Singapore Press Holdings GROUP FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS for the financial year ended August 31, Change S$ 000 S$ 000 % Operating revenue 1,301,367 1,301,011 - Operating profit # 496, ,688 (0.9) Profit before taxation 482, ,008 (7.6) Profit after taxation 418, ,925 (4.0) Minority interests 3,516 1, Profit attributable to shareholders 421, ,444 (3.6) Shareholders interests 2,055,176 2,088,899 (1.6) Total assets 3,235,358 3,150, Total liabilities 1,170,696 1,049, Minority interests 9,486 12,378 (23.4) Dividends declared for the financial year 400, ,783 (7.4) Profitability ratios % % % points Operating margin^ (0.4) Return on operating revenue (1.2) Return on shareholders funds (0.4) Per share data % Net assets (S$) (1.5) Profit before taxation (S$) (9.1) Profit attributable to shareholders (S$) (3.7) Dividends declared for the financial year (cents) ## (7.4) Dividend cover for the financial year (times) Value added S$ S$ % Per employee 227, ,579 (6.6) Per $ employment costs Per $ investment in property, plant and equipment (before depreciation) (3.2) Per $ operating revenue (2.8) # This represents the recurring earnings of the media and property businesses, including profits from the Group s Sky@eleven development. ^ Computed based on recurring earnings. ## Dividends for both FY 2009 and FY 2008 are tax-exempt (one-tier). The proposed final dividend of 18 cents per share, comprising a normal dividend of 9 cents per share and a special dividend of 9 cents per share, is subject to approval by shareholders at the Annual General Meeting on December 4, 2009.

15 CHAIRMAN S STATEMENT We unveiled a new corporate logo and brand essence engaging minds, enriching lives. This reaffirms our determination to excel beyond print and across platforms to strengthen SPH s position as Southeast Asia s leading media organisation.

16 14 Singapore Press Holdings CHAIRMAN S STATEMENT Despite a very challenging global economic environment in 2008, SPH s performance has been commendable. In a year when many companies were hit badly by the financial crisis, SPH s net profit for FY 2009 was just a shade below that of FY The Group s total revenue of $1.3 billion remained comparable to that of the previous year. The newspapers and magazines segment was impacted by the recession and saw its revenue decline by 12 per cent. This was offset by the Group s property segment which turned in a strong performance. The global financial meltdown also caused our Investment income to record a net loss of $6.2 million. Our overall net profit of $422 million was 3.6 per cent lower than that of the previous year. SPH took pre-emptive measures early in the year to buffer ourselves from the impact of the economic downturn. Wage reductions were implemented, operating costs were reduced and budgets across the board were cut. I commend the management and staff for acting quickly and effectively. Notwithstanding the uncertainties in the economy, SPH recognises the importance of investing in the future. In March this year, we celebrated the 25 th anniversary of the formation of SPH as a merged single entity with products in multiple languages. We unveiled a new corporate logo and brand essence engaging minds, enriching lives. This reaffirms our determination to excel beyond print and across platforms to strengthen SPH s position as Southeast Asia s leading media organisation. While we celebrated 25 years as SPH, the products in our stable have a rich heritage going back much longer. Our English flagship paper, The Straits Times, is 164 years old, while Lianhe Zaobao is 86 this year. Berita Harian celebrated its 50 th anniversary in 2007 and next year Tamil Murasu will mark its 75 th anniversary. Despite our long and distinguished history, SPH has not been complacent. Our experience and accumulated expertise remain a core strength but we have continued to rejuvenate and refresh our products to keep up with the times. Hence, while we trimmed operational costs, we ensured that we did not stop delivering value to our consumers and advertisers. Several of our products were revamped during the year, including The Business Times Weekend, zbcomma (formerly Friday Weekly), straitstimes.com and omy.sg, as well as publications in the SPH Magazines stable such as Her World, Nuyou, Young Parents, The Peak and Men s Health. We launched several new publications: tabla!, a weekly free paper for the growing Indian diaspora here; 24:7, Singapore s only English-language watch magazine for women; Domain, a high end architecture and design magazine; and ZbBz, a monthly bilingual newsgazine which marries the intelligence of newspaper journalism with the sophistication of magazine design. In the online space, we launched The Straits Times Breaking News, a free website with the latest news, and CLing, a Chinese web portal in collaboration with Business China. We continued to invest in our printing infrastructure and facilities. We commissioned a new UNISET printing facility at Media Centre which is capable of printing semi-commercial products. This has opened up new revenue streams for the company. And because it can print three different publications at the same time, it has greatly enhanced SPH s business continuity plan in the event of a contingency. Our third warehouse was launched at the beginning of With this new warehouse, we are now able to stock newsprint at an optimal level and reap substantial savings in storage and transport.

17 summary financial report Our property segment had a busy year. Paragon s $82 million renovation was unveiled, with more than 40,000 square feet of commercial space for retail, medical and office use, and a facelift showcasing a contemporary and elegantlooking facade as well as new stores. Our condominium project development, Sky@eleven, will obtain Temporary Occupation Permit next year. Our adjacent businesses have grown significantly. SPH s new events subsidiary, Sphere Exhibits, held a series of shows covering a range of interests, such as food, IT games, travel and education. It is expanding into the arena of outdoor lifestyle events. SPH MediaBoxOffice (SPHMBO) increased its presence and now has 600 screens island-wide. Its retail network spans 18 malls across the island. Beyond Singapore, 701Search Pte Ltd launched its latest online classifieds website in the Philippines. Its Malaysian website, is one of the leading websites in the country. 701Search s next expansion will be in Indonesia. With the acquisition of ShareInvestor, SPH has made online financial services a key part of our growing portfolio of new media offerings. We expect to derive substantial synergies with various SPH online entities, in particular The Business Times and its website, businesstimes.com. SPH and the Singapore Exchange have inked an agreement to jointly launch a free website that provides market data, news stories and related value-added services to retail investors. This will be ready next year. Last year, I announced that we acquired the book publishing business of SNP International Publishing. Now known as Straits Times Press, it is an important additional publishing channel for SPH. What has been most gratifying is that our dedication and diligence have been rewarded and recognised through the numerous awards we have received. SPH once again bagged the Securities Investors Association s Most Transparent Company Award. We were named among Singapore s Top 20 brands by Brand Finance. And according to a readers survey by Wall Street Journal on Asian companies in August 2009, SPH is the fourth most admired company in Singapore. Our products clinched numerous accolades. Just to name a few, we bagged five awards for editorial excellence at the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) awards and topped the 2009 WAN-IFRA Asian Media Awards with 11 major wins. Our role as a good corporate citizen won recognition. Our awards include the HR Advocate Award for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at the Singapore HR Awards 2009 and a 5-Year Outstanding Corporate Gold Award from the Community Chest. For our support of the arts, SPH was named Distinguished Patron of the Arts by the National Arts Council and a Patron of Heritage by the National Heritage Board. FY 2009 has been an eventful year, with satisfactory financial results in the face of a global financial crisis. To reward our loyal shareholders, the Board has recommended a final dividend of 18 cents per share, comprising a normal dividend of 9 cents and a special dividend of 9 cents. Together with the interim dividend paid, the total dividend payout for the year will be 25 cents per share. On behalf of the directors, I would like to thank our management, staff, business associates, unions, investors, readers and all other stakeholders for their dedication and support. I would like to express SPH s and the Board s gratitude to Dr Philip Pillai, who retired from the Board at the end of September to take up the prestigious position of Judicial Commissioner in the High Court. Dr Pillai has made valuable contributions to the company for the past 6 years. We wish him all the best in his new role. I would also like to welcome Mr Lucien Wong, who was appointed a nonexecutive director of SPH in October. A corporate lawyer specialising in mergers and acquisitions, Mr Wong will be a member of the SPH Board s audit committee. I am confident that Mr Wong will be a valuable asset to the Board and the company. In the coming year, there will be new challenges but also new opportunities. No organisation will be able to survive or prosper unless it keeps itself abreast of emerging trends, and turns adversity into opportunity. I strongly believe that with the support of all our SPH stakeholders, SPH can face the future with confidence and will continue to grow and prosper. Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam Chairman

18 CEO S OVERVIEW OF GROUP OPERATIONS SPH has weathered the global financial storm well. The Group responded to the difficult economic climate swiftly by taking rigorous measures including wage cuts and other cost controls to cushion the expected impact on the advertising market. In the face of an unfavourable economic climate, print advertisements fell 16.9 per cent to $648 million in FY This was a respectable result and a testament to the strong value that our print products provide even in these challenging times. Sales of newspapers were also adversely affected by the economic downturn. Following a cover price increase in October 2008, average daily circulation fell 3 per cent to just over one million copies in FY But some of the group s newspapers managed to turn in robust circulation growth, bucking the global newspaper trends in developed economies where both circulation and advertising have fallen precipitously. Profit from the Sky@eleven condominium project, recognised on a percentage of completion basis, buttressed the profit level of the Group. For FY 2009, the Group achieved an operating profit of $497 million, 0.9 per cent lower than last year, while its operating revenue of $1.3 billion remained comparable to that of last year.

19 summary financial report NEWSPAPERS The group s newspapers held their ground in the face of increasing competition from other media platforms. FY 2009 was in fact a busy year for SPH newspapers as we launched new and innovative initiatives to enhance our products and their relevance to readers. Our flagship newspaper, The Straits Times, continues to be the most influential English daily in Singapore with circulation and readership exceeding 374,000 and 1.43 million respectively. The paper was named the best newspaper advertising platform in Singapore, according to a survey of advertisers by Marketing magazine. Aside from its dominance in print, The Straits Times also expanded its online reach through the revamp of the Straitstimes.com website in August This is part of our continuing efforts to reach out to more readers across platforms - in print, online and mobile. In line with serving Singapore s increasingly diverse demographic structure, Lianhe Zaobao, the group s Chinese flagship, introduced a new section called Crossroads, which offers special features and reports of interest to new immigrants. Zaobao also launched a new student newspaper called zbcomma. Bundled with Zaobao and targeted at secondary schools, zbcomma has been well received by students, parents and teachers. This has boosted circulation of the main paper by 3,500 copies, or 2 per cent of daily average sales. Zaobao also carved a new niche with the launch of ZbBz, Singapore s first bilingual newsgazine. ZbBz is targeted at bilingual elites inspired by the renaissance of oriental culture and who enjoy the finer things in life.

20 18 Singapore Press Holdings NEWSPAPERS The Business Times maintained its position as the medium of choice among the business fraternity. Despite a cover price increase, it grew its circulation by 0.5 per cent. The highlight of the year for the paper was the relaunch of its weekend edition in September 2008 as a compact (tabloid) format. The refreshed look and expanded sections on lifestyle and wealth, coupled with creative advertising packages, were well received by the market. Circulation of the weekend edition has risen 16.4 per cent from a year earlier. The New Paper strengthened its daily diet of sports, human interest and entertainment stories aimed at younger readers. Since the middle of 2008, the paper is delivered in the morning but with afternoon special sports editions on Mondays and Thursdays to capture overnight football matches. The paper now publishes FiRST movie magazine as a free weekly pull-out. The New Paper clinched the top award for Excellence in Reporting Breaking News conferred by the Society of Publishers in Asia. Singapore s first bilingual free daily, my paper, also gained international recognition and won the Best in Cross Media Editorial Coverage award at the IFRA 8 th Asia Media Awards The group s two evening Chinese papers, Lianhe Wanbao and Shin Min Daily News rationalised their offerings. This has resulted in Shin Min growing its circulation by 1.4 per cent, while Wanbao has boosted its advertising revenues. Berita Harian, the group s Malaylanguage daily, continued its push to engage more young. The BH Media Club is now in 70 primary and secondary schools with biannual student media camps, annual teachers forum and other activities. Tamil Murasu continued to do well, gaining 7.2 per cent in circulation as a result of its strong news coverage of the Indian elections and the hostilities in Sri Lanka. It also launched tabla!, an English-language free weekly which has been greeted well by the growing Indian diaspora in Singapore. NEWSPAPER SERVICES On the retail front, the group s buzz pod franchise which represents a new generation of newsstands - expanded to 50 outlets nationwide. Buzz pods are now found in all major bus interchanges. To further enrich our product offering and promote ease of payment at buzz pods, SPH entered into a collaboration with Nets to extend payment options and cashcard sales, as well as to provide topup services at selected outlets. SPH continues to make investment in our print products. Last year, we commissioned a new printing press at Media Centre in Genting Lane. This will serve as a backup facility to the main printing facility at Print Centre in Jurong, and will also undertake our semi-commercial and contract printing business. SPH officially opened our third and newest warehouse at Print Centre, increasing our onsite newsprint storage capacity by an additional 9,000 metric tonnes. The eco-friendly facility minimises the need for external storage, thus saving on rental, transportation and material handling costs.

21 summary financial report NEWSPAPERS THAT READERS TRUST

22 20 Singapore Press Holdings MAGAZINES SPH Magazines (SPHM) has strengthened its position as the leading magazine publisher in Singapore and regionally. Its titles continued to win numerous international awards, even as advertising revenues were hit by widespread cutbacks on advertising budgets. SPHM embarked on a major drive in FY 2009 to rationalise and streamline its portfolio of titles. A number of titles were amalgamated into existing publications, while some titles were closed. To harness greater synergies, a restructuring exercise was conducted in conjunction with the integration of SPHM subsidiary, Hardware Zone. Throughout the year, SPHM held various events to showcase its titles and strengthen relationships with readers and advertisers. Some key events in 2009 included Her World Woman of the Year 2009, an annual signature event held to honour women role models who have contributed significantly to Singapore society. ICON celebrated its 4 th anniversary in glamorous fashion with the ICON Ball, graced by 320 of the country s elite and socialites. These events cemented SPHM s solid rapport and reputation among its readers and advertisers. SPHM continued to expand its offerings. 24:7, Singapore s only English-language women s watch annual, was launched in late-september July 2009 saw the launch of The Peak s latest spin-off title Domain, an annual publication covering high-end home design and architecture.

23 summary financial report MAGAZINES THAT CONSUMERS DESIRE

24 22 Singapore Press Holdings NEW MEDIA SPH has transformed itself from a print company to a multi-platform multimedia company that continues to innovate and keep abreast of the fast-changing world of new media. Our new media products have established themselves as leaders in their respective areas, with strong growth in page views and visitor numbers. SPH launched new sites and revamped a number of its online portals. Five websites in SPH s stable topped Hitwise Rankings for Zaobao.com and ST701.com were clear winners in the News and Media (Print) and Shopping and Classifieds categories respectively. Hardwarezone.com continued its winning streak clinching top place for three IT categories. AsiaOne s food website, soshiok.com, launched in May 2008, remained the top food and beverage lifestyle site in Singapore. Stomp s Singapore seen site clinched the top spot for Lifestyle-Blogs and personal websites category. The group s bilingual citizen journalism site, omy.sg, clinched two golds in Best in Online Media (Newspaper Website) and Best in Cross Media (Cross Media Editorial Coverage), and silver in Best in Cross Media (Cross Media Advertising) at the WAN-IFRA Asia Media Awards Online Portals The AsiaOne Network, a re-branding of our online advertising properties, was launched in FY With this, the existing family of news and lifestyle websites was joined by ShareInvestor, HardwareZone, Game Axis, and Men s Health Online. This offers advertisers better coverage and more targeted advertising capabilities. It was a banner year for Straitstimes.com, the online platform of The Straits Times. A new free website, Straits Times Breaking News, was launched, providing the latest news in Singapore and around the world and with blogs by ST journalists on the issues of the day. Since its launch in August 2008, page views have more than doubled and unique visitors have tripled. Straitstimes.com also moved into the mobile space with a new iphone application for readers on the go. Stomp, Singapore s pioneering citizen journalism and social networking website, enjoyed strong growth in visitorship and time spent on the site. The Straits Times RazorTV, SPH s WebTV initiative, crossed a milestone with over one million video views a month. According to a Synovate survey, viewers gave top marks to RazorTV s hyperlocal content and its fresh new approach to covering events. RazorTV also launched its iphone application which, within four days, became the most downloaded application at the Apple App store. First launched in September 2007, omy.sg enjoys over 10 million page views and an average of 370,000 unique visitors per month, and is one of the top news/ entertainment/blog sites in Singapore. In July 2009, working with Business China, omy.sg launched a new Chinese learning portal, CLing, to provide Singaporeans a lively contemporary environment to learn Chinese and gain exposure to different aspects of modern China. Zaobao.com, the web edition of Lianhe Zaobao, has grown its reach to 5 million page views and 600,000 unique visitors daily, retaining its position as the most visited Singaporean website for the past four years. With its online platform, Lianhe Zaobao s coverage on Greater China now attracts millions of highprofile readers in the region. In November 2008, SPH acquired Shareinvestor (SI), a leading Internet financial media and technology company, to strengthen our Internet-based financial services. The SI Station and ShareInvestor.com website are targeted at retail investors, with practical analysis and charting tools. With a presence in

25 summary financial report INNOVATION THAT PEOPLE DEMAND Malaysia, and Thailand as well, SI is a significant regional provider of online investor relations services, with some 400 listed clients. SI organises an annual Invest Fair, which have attracted over 60,000 visitors since its inception three years ago. As part of the synergies reaped from the acquisition, this year s Invest Fair was jointly organised with The Business Times. Further such collaborations are in the pipeline. Online Classifieds, Search and Directories ST701, SPH s online classifieds portal, has become Singapore s leading e-marketplace. Between April 2008 and August 2009, it received more visitors than any other classifieds website, with an almost 20 per cent market share in the classifieds website category, according to Hitwise, the online tracking company. To better serve its users, the website was revamped in August 2009 with an enhanced interface, new features and search functions. On the regional front, ST701 launched Ayosdito, in the Philippines in April Ayosdito, which means Ok here in Tagalog, has been well received and follows the success of mudah.my, which became the top online classifieds site in Malaysia within 10 months of launch. SPH made further inroads into the regional market through two new online directory services; one in China, 701Sou, and the other in Malaysia, 701Panduan. Going live in October last year, 701Sou has made rapid progress in the Chinese market, surpassing both its major competitors in terms of total site visits and page views. 701Panduan, which went live in March this year, has surpassed its two major competitors in terms of total site visits and page views. Rednano, SPH s online local search and directory service, saw increasing usage by information-seekers and businesses. It extended its reach in the mobile space with the launch of a location-based directory search service to complement its SMS and WAP services. In line with its aim to boost advertisers return on investment, Rednano rolled out the Rednano AdSMART search advertising network in August This network gives businesses the opportunity to use contextual ads progressively on a wide range of SPH and non-sph websites.

26 24 Singapore Press Holdings OTHER BUSINESSES OpenNet Properties Income from our property segment continues to provide good yields. Following the successful launch of our luxury condominium development structural works for all 273 units in four separate towers of the 43-storey project have been completed, while M&E and architectural works are progressing as scheduled. This constitutes a stage of completion of 67 per cent and the target TOP is in SPH s main property asset Paragon completed an $82 million renovation which unveiled more commercial space for retail, medical and office use, and a facelift showcasing a contemporary and elegant-looking facade as well as new stores. The property enjoyed 98 per cent office occupancy and 100 per cent retail occupancy. Total revenue from Paragon rose $5.3 million, a 4.7 per cent increase over last year. Paragon continued to attract the trendiest international names in fashion. Brands such as Gucci, Salvatore Ferragamo, Prada, Tod s and Miu Miu will front the Orchard Road facade with their new-concept duplexes. Outdoor Advertising SPH Media Box Office (MBO) expanded its presence in the digital out-of-home space by increasing its advertising network to about 600 screens island-wide. The LED screen at Singapore Visitors Centre at Orchard Road was re-instated, bringing the total number of LED screens to five the largest LED network in Singapore. MBO also expanded its footprint in the retail network by setting up indoor screens in six new malls belonging to the Frasers Centrepoint and UOL groups. The retail network now comprises 18 major malls. MBO also organized several events including the Sweet Christmas Fair in December 2008, Orchard Reloaded in May 2009 and a major trade show for Panasonic. Events and Exhibitions Sphere Exhibits, SPH s events and exhibitions arm, launched its first event, The Food Safari and Home Electronics Fair 2008, in November 2008 with more than 100 exhibitors. The event attracted 250,000 visitors. This was followed by four more shows covering a range of consumer interests such as IT gaming, education, travel and beauty. Licence2Play, staged in May 2009, was particularly successful in the competitive arena of gaming shows. To date, Sphere Exhibits first five events have attracted a total visitorship of almost one million. Radio Our radio subsidiary SPH Unionworks, an joint venture between SPH and NTUC Media, operates two radio stations. The Chinese-language Radio adopts a successful interactive infotainment format, with core consumer target groups consistently registering longer listening times. The Englishlanguage 91.3FM received excellent response and feedback for its new breakfast programmes. BUSINESS OUTLOOK There are signs that the global recession is abating and that major world economies may soon return to modest growth. However, there is still significant economic uncertainty, and the risk of a double-dip recession remains. Singapore s media landscape, battered by the past few months, may also take time to recover. Despite this, SPH will continue to draw on its core strengths to maintain its market share while developing and strengthening our capabilities in new media segments. And even as the group continues to monitor our cost structure and take steps to preserve our profit margins, we will continue to explore investment opportunities in order to position ourselves for future long-term growth. Taking into account the challenging economic climate and increased competition from non-traditional media platforms, the group has managed an exemplary performance in the last 12 months. This is due to the hard work, dedication and commitment of staff at all levels, and I would like to thank all of them for their support. Of course, our successes this year must also be attributed to the support of our customers, vendors, business partners and the unions. I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to the SPH Board for its strategic counsel and support in these times of uncertainty. No matter what the coming year may bring, I am confident that we will be able to meet challenges and opportunities head-on as we strive towards becoming a world-leading multimedia group. Chan Heng Loon Alan Chief Executive Officer

27 summary financial report Invest Fair by ShareInvestor and The Business Times Licence2Play by Sphere Exhibits

28 26 Singapore Press Holdings SIGNIFICANT EVENTS 6 Sept 2008 The Business Times Weekend refreshed The Business Times, Singapore s leading financial daily, launched its revamped weekend edition on this day with a new look and fresh content. 6 Sept 2008 Lianhe Zaobao s 85 th Anniversary Lianhe Zaobao celebrated its 85 th anniversary with a gala dinner at St Regis Hotel, attended by over 300 guests, including Guest-of-Honour Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, government officials, leaders in the Chinese community and journalists. 17 Sept 2008 Straits Times Press, new book publishing subsidiary, formed SPH announced the formation of a new book publishing business under its subsidiary, Straits Times Press Pte Ltd. Straits Times Press has taken over the current contracts of SNP International Publishing, the book publishing arm of SNP Corporation, and its intellectual property rights, as well as its six-person team headed by publishing veteran Shirley Hew. 26 Sept 2008 OpenNet selected as Singapore s Next Generation National Broadband Network OpenNet (Axia NetMedia Corporation 30%, Singapore Telecommunications Limited 30%, Singapore Press Holdings Limited 25% and SP Telecommunications Pte Ltd 15%) was selected by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) to provide passive fibre grid services for Singapore s Next Generation National Broadband Network. 10 Oct 2008 Drumming up a new beat - SPH launched tabla! The first issue of SPH s new English compact-size paper, tabla! hit the newsstands on this day. Targeted at the Indian diaspora in Singapore, tabla! is distributed free every Friday. 2 Nov 2008 The New Paper BIG WALK returned on water The New Paper Big Walk celebrated its 20 th anniversary by bringing back its signature mass-participation fun walk. The New Paper Big Walk took place from Suntec City Mall to the Marina Barrage Nov 2008 Food Safari - Sphere Exhibits inaugural event made debut at Suntec Sphere Exhibits inaugural show, The Food Safari and Home Electronics Fair, made its debut at the Suntec Convention Halls. The three-day event attracted more than 250,000 visitors. 7 Jan 2009 Friday Weekly revamped and renamed zbcomma Friday Weekly, the Chinese student newspaper published by SPH, was revamped and renamed zbcomma ( 逗号 ) in January The student paper is distributed together with SPH s Chinese flagship newspaper Lianhe Zaobao via school subscription and at selected buzz pods. 26 Sept 2008 SPH Magazines launched 24:7 SPH Magazines launched 24:7, Singapore s only Englishlanguage watch magazine for women. Launch of zbcomma Launch of 24:7

29 summary financial report Mar 2009 Paragon with new façade Paragon s $82 million renovation unveiled more than 40,000 square feet of commercial space for retail, medical and office use, showcasing a contemporary and elegant-looking facade as well as new stores. 7 Apr 2009 SPH expanded into Philippines with Online Classifieds 701Search Pte Ltd launched its latest classifieds website to serve the Filipino community. Ayosdito.ph is managed by 701Search, Inc, incorporated in November 2008 as a subsidiary of 701 Search Pte Ltd, which was established in Sept 2006 as a joint venture between SPH and Norwegian media group Schibsted ASA. 12 Apr 2009 Launch of Crossroads by Minister Mentor Crossroads, a weekly section which focuses on new immigrants in Lianhe Zaobao, was launched by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew. Paragon s facelift 7 Mar 2009 SPH launched inaugural Singapore Entertainment Awards 2009 ( 新加坡 e- 乐大赏 ) Organised by SPH s Chinese media including Lianhe Wanbao, Radio 100.3, omy.sg and UW (U-Weekly), the annual awards honoured the best talents in the Singapore and Asian entertainment scene. 26 Mar 2009 Her World s New Look, With More of Everything Readers Love Her World, a publication of SPH Magazines and Singapore s No. 1 women s magazine, unveiled its new look with its April 2009 issue. Launch of Crossroads by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew 30 Mar 2009 New logo launched to mark SPH s 25 th anniversary SPH unveiled its new corporate logo at an event that marked the start of its 25 th anniversary celebrations. Guest-of- Honour President S R Nathan, together with SPH chairman Dr Tony Tan, unveiled the new logo at SPH s headquarters at News Centre. At the event, SPH also revealed its new tagline that captures the essence of its brand Engaging Minds, Enriching Lives. Launch of new SPH logo

30 28 Singapore Press Holdings SIGNIFICANT EVENTS 15 Apr 2009 SPH s Third Warehouse at Southeast Asia s Largest Single Printing Site SPH s third and newest warehouse was officially opened by SPH Chief Executive Officer Mr Alan Chan. With its eight presslines, the SPH Print Centre at Jurong Port Road is the largest single printing site in Southeast Asia. More than a million copies of newspapers are printed daily. Launch of CLing by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong SPH s third warehouse at Print Centre 1 May 2009 Female and Nuyou presented Singapore s Longest Catwalk on Orchard Road SPH Magazines Female and Nuyou presented Singapore s longest staged catwalk in Orchard Road on 1 May May 2009 FiRST moved to The New Paper FiRST magazine, Asia s premier monthly movie magazine published by SPH Magazines Pte Ltd, morphed into a special weekly pull-out section in The New Paper. 21 May 2009 The Peak celebrated 25 th Anniversary The Peak, Singapore s leading luxury lifestyle magazine published by SPH Magazines, celebrated its 25 th anniversary with a gala dinner featuring the Who s Who of Singapore s corporate and social circles. 25 June 2009 World Bank s Chief Economist at Eminent Speakers Series Professor Justin Lin Yifu, the Chief Economist of the World Bank, spoke at the Eminent Speakers Series jointly organised by Lianhe Zaobao and Business China. 18 July 2009 Fun with CLing - A New Chinese Portal Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong launched CLing a Chinese web portal which exposes young Singaporeans to modern China and help them learn Chinese through fun and interesting ways. The media platform is jointly presented by Business China and omy.sg. 22 July 2009 AsiaOne extended to include Hardwarezone.com, GameAxis. com and Men s Health Online The AsiaOne Network, Singapore s premier and fastest growing ad network, has expanded its range of online offerings with the addition of 3 key websites Hardwarezone.com ( a leading online portal in the IT category, GameAxis.com ( and Men s Health Online ( 24 July 2009 Launch of Domain, by The Peak The Peak Selections: Domain, a new annual publication covering high-end design, architecture and homes in the region was launched. This annual publication is a brand extension of The Peak. 30 July awarded SPH and SPH Foundation Scholarships SPH and SPH Foundation presented a total of 29 scholarships at its annual scholarship awards ceremony held at the SPH News Centre. Of these, 8 were the SPH Journalism scholarships, 15 were scholarships given to children of staff and newspaper vendors, and 6 were for the SPH Foundation s Lim Kim San Memorial scholarships. 22 Aug 2009 ShareInvestor launched third annual Invest Fair 2009 ShareInvestor, a financial Internet media and technology company and a subsidiary of SPH, officially launched its third annual Invest Fair 2009 at the Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre. Centred on the theme Invest with Knowledge, this event aimed to empower both beginners and seasoned investors and traders with the knowledge and techniques to make informed trading and investment decisions. 31 Aug 2009 President S R Nathan celebrated The New Paper Be Yourself Day President S R Nathan celebrated this year s The New Paper Be Yourself Day together with students of Maha Bodhi School.

31 summary financial report CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY - SINGAPORE PRESS HOLDINGS As a responsible corporate citizen, Singapore Press Holdings strives to engage the community through the various sponsorship and donation programmes in the arts, charity, education, language enrichment and conservation. Our corporate social responsibility efforts have won us many accolades. But the best reward to us is the significant contributions we have made to the community. ARTS Distinguished Patron once again SPH was named Distinguished Patron of the Arts for the 16 th consecutive year at the Patron of the Arts Award ChildAid raised record amount ChildAid, the annual children s charity concert organised by The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund and The Business Times Budding Artists Fund, raised a record $506,000. Eighty performers aged 6-19 years performed for two nights at the NUS University Cultural Centre. A jazzy Christmas For the second year running, SPH sponsored local jazz sensation Jeremy Monteiro s year-end Christmas concert series at the Esplanade Concert Hall. A Jazzy Christmas: Noel Samba Bossa Nova saw Monteiro perform with some of the world s best jazz talents. SPH Gift of Music showcased homegrown talent To celebrate its 25 th anniversary, SPH held a series of SPH Gift of Music concerts featuring the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Chinese Orchestra and the Philharmonic Winds. The free concerts were held at the heartlands, parks and campuses, as well as the Esplanade Outdoor Theatre and the Paragon Shopping Centre. SPH 25 th Anniversary Gala Concert - Colours of Music One of the highlights of SPH s 25 th anniversary celebrations was a Gala Concert by the Singapore Chinese Orchestra at the Esplanade Concert Hall on 30 October It featured Engaging Moments - 25 years of Photojournalism, a piece created by American photo-choreographer James Westwater for SPH. The work showcased photos taken by SPH photojournalists in the past 25 years, with music accompaniment by the orchestra and the SYC Ensemble Singers. The concert also featured an original work for SPH by Cultural Medallion recipient Iskandar Ismail. SPH Chairman Dr Tony Tan presented a cheque of $500,000 to 20 charitable programmes at the concert. SSO s Benefactor SPH was the sole recipient of this year s Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) Benefactor Award. The award was presented to SPH by President S R Nathan at the SSO s 30 th Anniversary Dinner. A Patron of Heritage SPH received the Patron of Heritage award from the National Heritage Board. It supported the Singapore HeritageFest 2008, Heritage Gala 2008 and various exhibitions at the Singapore Art Museum, through the extensive network of out-of-home media subsidiary, SPH MediaBoxOffice. Chinese cultural activities Thousands of visitors thronged the Singapore River Hong Bao 2009, which was held at the Marina Floating Platform for the first time from 24 January to 1 February The annual Lunar New Year carnival was jointly organised by Lianhe Zaobao, Lianhe Wanbao, Shin Min Daily News, together with other partners. ChildAid SPH Gift of Music

32 30 Singapore Press Holdings CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY - SINGAPORE PRESS HOLDINGS Nurturing local dancers SPH was the Singapore Dance Theatre (SDT) s first Silver Anniversary Sponsor, pledging its support from 2008 to Some of the highlights in 2009 included Cinderella, Ballet Under the Stars and Season of Brilliance. Singapore Writers Festival Singapore Press Holdings, together with the SPH Foundation, were the official sponsors of the Singapore Writers Festival 2009, which was held at the Arts House from 24 October to 1 November The biennial event is Singapore s only national literary festival and presents the world s literary talents to Singapore. The SPH-NAC Golden Point Award (GPA) 2009 is Singapore s national creative writing competition held in conjunction with the Singapore Writers Festival. It was started in 1993 to promote the art of creative writing in the four major languages of Singapore. CHARITY Support for President s Challenge SPH s fund raising events for President s Challenge included The New Paper s Be Yourself Day in schools and the Chinese Newspapers Division s Youth Talent Concert. Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund The economic downturn led to more children applying for financial assistance from The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund. There were 1,000 more applicants (from a total of 9,855) in the first half of this year than for the whole of last year. With the rise in the number of families needing help, the fund needs to raise $5.7 million this year, the highest since its inception in To date, the fund has raised over $20 million to help over 50,000 children. Children helping Children The Children For Children initiative is an annual project organised by The Business Times together with CHIJ (Kellock) and The Arts House. Launched in 2008, this initiative brought 1,000 underprivileged children together to celebrate Children s Day and raised funds for two children-related charities - The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund and The Business Times Budding Artists Fund. This year, a total of $235,000 was raised. SPORTS Teamwork in sprints The 17 th SPH Schools Relay Championships at the Bukit Gombak Stadium attracted the participation of over 1,400 students and 357 teams from 50 schools. Over 1,200 witnessed a total of four new records being set, with the Singapore Sports School clinching the SPH Overall Challenge Trophy. CORPORATE CSR and HR efforts recognised SPH clinched the HR Advocate Award for Corporate Social Responsibility at the Singapore HR Awards 2009 for the first time, having garnered the Leading HR Practices Award for CSR from 2007 to It was also recognised for its Talent Management, Retention & Succession Planning practices, and received a special mention in Compensation & Rewards Management. Supporting the fight against cancer SPH Magazines Pte Ltd was acknowledged as a top corporate donor to the Children s Cancer Foundation. SPH received SSO Benefactor Award The New Paper s Be Yourself Day

33 summary financial report CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY - SINGAPORE PRESS HOLDINGS FOUNDATION The Singapore Press Holdings Foundation (SPHF), a registered charity and an Institution of Public Character, was set up in January 2003 to help build a lifelong learning community that embraces language enrichment, creativity, diversity, healthy living and sports. The seed contribution of $20 million to the Foundation came from media group Singapore Press Holdings Limited. EDUCATION Reading programmes for special needs children World-class storytellers facilitated practical and entertaining workshops for parents, caregivers and educators of children with special needs. This was jointly organised by the SPH Foundation and the National Book Development Council of Singapore, as part of the Singapore International Storytelling Festival. Inaugural Business Quiz for university students Students from four local universities competed in the inaugural SPH Foundation Singapore Universities Business Quiz that tested their knowledge of business, current affairs and entrepreneurial talent. Organised by The Business Times, Singapore Management University (SMU) emerged the winner. ARTS Patron of the Arts once again SPH Foundation received the Patron of the Arts award for the fourth time. ENVIRONMENT Appreciating nature An initiative by the National Parks Board, the Special Projects to Understand Nature (SUN) Club programme is a series of nature appreciation field trips to parks and nature reserves for children with special needs. Since its inception in 2005, it had hosted over 100 trips for 3,200 children to six parks. Wildlife protection SPH supports wildlife conservation efforts and the environment. In addition to the adoption of the Proboscis Monkeys at the SPH Conservation Centre and Inuka the Polar Bear at the Singapore Zoo, it also initiated the SPH Foundation Conservation Ambassadors and Wildlife Buddies Programme to encourage environmental awareness in the young. Lim Kim San Memorial Scholarships SPH Foundation gave out scholarships to six full-time students pursuing language studies at the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University. Story Challenge Organised by local theatre company The Theatre Practice, the Story Challenge, a nation-wide story-telling competition, returned for the third year. Participants were challenged to create their own tales within a certain time limit. SMU was the winner of the the inaugural SPH Foundation Singapore Universities Business Quiz The SPH Foundation Conservation Ambassadors and Wildlife Buddies Programme

34 32 Singapore Press Holdings AWARDS AND ACCOLADES SIAS Investors Choice Awards 2008 SOPA Awards for Editorial Excellence CORPORATE AWARDS 1. SIAS Investors Choice Awards Most Transparent Company Award - Best Financial Journalist of The Year Award (Ng Hwee Min, Lianhe Zaobao) - Most Promising Journalist of the Year (Chew Xiang, The Business Times) - Special Award (Kalpana Rashiwala, The Business Times) th Community Chest Awards - Corporate Gold Award 3. Patron of the Arts Award - SPH received Distinguished Patron of the Arts and SPH Foundation was awarded Patron of the Arts 4. SSO Benefactor Award - SPH is the sole recipient of the award in Patron of Heritage Award 6. Singapore HR Awards HR Advocate Award for Corporate Social Responsibility - Leading HR Practices in Talent Management, Retention & Succession Planning Award - Leading HR Practices in Corporate Social Responsibility Award - Special Mention in Compensation & Rewards Management 7. Brand Finance Forum 2009 Top 100 Most Valuable Brand (20 th position) 8. CPF Board 2009 Supplier Awards 9. Singapore Health Award (Gold) 10. Wall Street Journal Asia 200 Survey 2009 (4 th most admired company in Singapore) EDITORIAL ACHIEVEMENTS rd ASEANTA Awards For Excellence in Tourism - Best Asean Travel Article Silverkris 2. Asia Travel & Tourism Creative Awards Editorial Spread on a Travel-Related Subject - Bronze (SilverKris) 3. MPAS (Magazine Publishers Association of Singapore) Singapore Publishing Awards: - Her World (MPAS Magazine of the Year 2009) - ICON (MPAS Chinese Magazine of the Year 2009) 4. SOPA Awards for Editorial Excellence - Excellence in Reporting Breaking News Winner (The New Paper) - Excellence in Information Graphics Honourable Mention (The New Paper) - Excellence in Reporting Breaking News Honourable Mention (The Straits Times) - Excellence in Business Reporting Honourable Mention (The Straits Times) - Excellence in Magazine Design - Honourable Mention (Female) 5. Hitwise Rankings for Food and Beverage - Lifestyle and Reference ( - Lifestyle - Blogs and Personal Websites (singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg) - News and Media Print ( - Shopping and Classifieds Classified ( - Computers and Internet Hardware ( - Social Networking & Forums ( - News and Media IT Media ( 6. APEX Awards Grand Award for Design & Illustration (SilverKris) - Award of Excellence for Custom-Published Magazine (Pinnacle) - Award of Excellence for Most Improved Magazine (Millenia)

35 summary financial report PANPA Awards for SPH Ads The Straits Times is one of the Top 10 Singapore Brands EDITORIAL ACHIEVEMENTS (Continued) 7. Magnum Opus Awards Best Feature/Design Gold (SilverKris) - Best Overall Design Honourable Mention (SilverKris) - Best Feature/Design Silver (Pinnacle) - Most Improved Editorial Gold (Millenia) - Most Improved Design Silver (Millenia) - Best Use of Photography - Honourable Mention (LATITUDE ONE o 15) 8. Tabbie Awards Front Cover, Digital Imagery - Honourable Mention (BiZQ) 9. PANPA (Pacific Area Newspaper Publishers Association) Advertising Awards - Best Ad Promoting Print (The Business Times) - Best Tactical Use of Newspapers (Launch of my paper) - Best Print Campaign (Berita Harian, for client Andalus) - Best Print Campaign (The New Paper, for client Carlsberg Euro 2008) PROPERTIES ACCOLADES 1. Singapore Retailer Association (SRA) Shopping Centre Scorecard Outstanding Efforts in Advertising & Promotions (Paragon) - Outstanding Efforts in Mall Maintenance (Paragon) OTHER AWARDS 1. Global Telecoms Business Innovation Awards - Best Consumer Service Innovation (Rednano Locate) 2. AdAsia s Asia Interactive Awards - Innovative Online Achievement (rednano.sg) 3. Fast Forward 09 conference - Digital Market Award (rednano.sg) 4. Superbrands Top 10 Singapore Brands (The Straits Times) 10. Newspaper Design Competition for Beijing Olympics - Editorial Planning Gold (Lianhe Zaobao) - Best Design (Overseas Newspaper category) Silver (Lianhe Zaobao) 11. India Boating Awards - Best Yachting Magazine (Asia-Pacific Boating) 12. Newspaper of the Year 2009 (by Marketing Magazine) - The Straits Times (Gold 20, Silver 8, Bronze 2) - The Business Times (Gold 6, Silver 13, Bronze 7) - The New Paper (Gold 2, Silver 1) - my paper (Bronze 4) - Lianhe Zaobao (Silver 1, Bronze 1) 13. Magazine of the Year 2009 (by Marketing Magazine) - The Peak (Gold 2, Silver 5, Bronze 3) - Her World (Gold 2, Silver 2, Bronze 3) - HWM (Gold 2, Silver 1, Bronze 1)

36 34 Singapore Press Holdings INVESTOR RELATIONS SPH: Engaging Minds, Enriching Lives SPH is committed to engaging both readers and advertisers by developing and acquiring innovative and superior products that enrich the lives of our audiences across multiple languages and platforms. Despite the challenging media landscape, we remain committed to improving our product offerings and pursuing new revenue streams to enhance shareholders value. During the year, we successfully executed several greenfield and acquisition projects, affirming our commitment to innovate beyond print and strengthen our suite of media products. Some examples of our continued expansion with online initiatives include the launch of 701Panduan in Malaysia and AyosDito in the Philippines. Other activities include the acquisition of Shareinvestor and our entry into the book publishing business. We continue to forge ahead to build on our core competencies in journalism, marketing and distribution while pursuing new opportunities to grow and maintain our dominance as Southeast Asia s leading media organisation. Proactive engagement with the Investment Community The SPH Investor Relations team proactively engages the investment community to deliver timely information on the Group s financial performance as well as strategic and growth initiatives. Senior management frequently communicates with shareholders, analysts and investors via multiple channels including one-on-one meetings, conference calls, quarterly post-results luncheons, investment conferences and overseas roadshows. SPH shares are widely held by both global and local institutional funds and private investors. We continue to attend major investor conferences to keep investors informed of the latest news and developments of the Group. During the year, senior management undertook a roadshow in Tokyo for the second time to strengthen shareholder relations and gain valuable feedback for the Group. We also engage with retail investors through and telephone calls, as well as public forums such as those organised by the Securities Investors Association of Singapore ( SIAS ) and Shareinvestor. This year, we launched a revamped Investor Relations website with additional features and information. This is part of our continuing effort to improve and provide effective communication with the investment community. With a brand new look, the comprehensive website provides easy access to the Company s financial and business information. Investors can access senior management s presentation of the Group s half and full year results through audio webcasts and slide presentations, which are available online. Enhancing Shareholders Value SPH strives to enhance the long-term value for shareholders. We will continue to assess opportunities of returning excess cash generated from operations that is surplus to the Company s requirement. The level of capital return, in the form of share buy back, dividend and capital distribution, will be determined to allow the Company to balance its operational requirement needs with the flexibility to pursue strategic business opportunities. Based on our track record, a high percentage of our recurring earnings have been returned to shareholders in the past five years. Profits accruing from property operations Sky@eleven and Paragon are recognised as part of our recurring earnings. Shareholders are encouraged to access our corporate website at for the latest corporate information updates on the Group. Queries can be posted via our investor relations address, sphir@sph.com.sg. Investor Relations Calendar Financial Calendar 1 st Quarter 2009 (Sept Nov 08) 2008 Full Year Financial Results Announcement and Media Conference & Analysts Briefing with audio webcast Full Year Results Investor Meeting # Morgan Stanley Asia Pacific Summit 2008 (Singapore) Daiwa Non-Deal Roadshow (Tokyo) Release of Annual Report nd Quarter 2009 (Dec 08 Feb 09) Payment of 2008 final dividends Annual General Meeting Announcement of 1Q FY 2009 results Post 1Q Results Investor Meeting # BNP Paribas ASEAN Corporate Day (Singapore) # Investor conferences attended 3 rd Quarter 2009 (Mar May 09) # Credit Suisse Asian Investment Conference (Hong Kong) Announcement of 2Q/HY FY 2009 results and analysts briefing with audio webcast Post 2Q Results Investor Meeting # CLSA Corporate Access Forum (Singapore) 4 th Quarter 2009 (Jun Aug 09) # SIAS Corporate Profile Seminar (Singapore) Announcement of 3Q FY 2009 results Post 3Q Results Investor Meeting Shareinvestor s Invest Fair Oct Announcement of FY 2009 Results 14 Dec Books Closure for Dividend Entitlement 23 Dec Proposed Payment of FY 2009 Final Dividends 2010* 13 Jan Announcement of 1Q FY 2010 Results 13 Apr Announcement of 2Q FY 2010 Results 12 Jul Announcement of 3Q FY 2010 Results 12 Oct Announcement of FY 2010 Results * The dates are indicative and subject to change. Please refer to SPH website, for the latest updates.

37 summary financial report INVESTOR REFERENCE Return on Shareholders Funds (%) Operating Margin + (%) Operating Margin excluding Sky@eleven + (%) * # 2006 # 2007 # * # 2006 # 2007 # Operating Margin (%) Operating Margin excluding Sky@eleven (%) Net Dividend per Share (cents) Net Dividend (S$ m) o ^ ^ * Restated to take into account the retrospective adjustments on adoption of FRS Share-based Payment in FY # Restated to take into account the retrospective adjustments relating to FRS 40 - Investment Property. + Computed based on recurring earnings. o Reflected on a net basis for comparison purposes. ^ Included one-tier tax exempt final dividend of 18 cents per share, comprising a normal dividend of 9 cents per share and a special dividend of 9 cents per share. The proposed dividends are subject to approval by shareholders at the Annual General Meeting on December 4, 2009.

38 36 Singapore Press Holdings INVESTOR REFERENCE Recurring and Dividend Payout Rate ## S$ m % * # 2006 # 2007 # Dividend Payout Ratio (%) Recurring Earnings Recurring earnings represent earnings of the media and property businesses on a recurring basis, including profits from the Group s Sky@eleven development. ## Computed based on recurring earnings. * Restated to take into account the retrospective adjustments on adoption of FRS Share-based Payment in FY # Restated to take into account the retrospective adjustments relating to FRS 40 - Investment Property. Share Price and Volume Monthly Turnover 200 Share Price Million Shares Share Price Volume # 2006 # 2005* # S$ S$ S$ S$ S$ Highest closing price Lowest closing price August 31 closing price Price/Earnings Ratio based on August 31 closing price * Restated to take into account the retrospective adjustments on adoption of FRS Share-based Payment in FY # Restated to take into account the retrospective adjustments relating to FRS 40 - Investment Property. Source: Bloomberg

39 summary financial report SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENT for the financial year ended August 31, 2009 IMPORTANT NOTE The Summary Financial Statement as set out on pages 37 to 46 contains only a summary of the information in the Directors Report and financial statements of the Company s Annual Report. It does not contain sufficient information to allow for a full understanding of the results and the state of affairs of the Company and the Group. For further information, the full financial statements, the Independent Auditors Report on those statements and the Directors Report in the Annual Report should be consulted. Shareholders may request for a copy of the full Annual Report at no cost. Please use the Request Form at the end of this Summary Financial Report. SUMMARY DIRECTORS REPORT DIRECTORS 1. The Directors of the Company in office at the date of this report* are: Tony Tan Keng Yam Cham Tao Soon Chan Heng Loon Alan Willie Cheng Jue Hiang Ng Ser Miang Ngiam Tong Dow Sum Soon Lim Yeo Ning Hong Yong Pung How * Dr Philip N Pillai stepped down as a Director with effect from September 30, PRINCIPAL ACTIVITIES 2. The principal activities of the Group consist of: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h) (i) (j) (k) publishing, printing and distributing newspapers, publishing and distributing magazines, providing multimedia content and services, holding investments, holding, managing and developing properties, providing outdoor advertising services, providing radio broadcasting services, providing online search, directories and classified services, organising convention/conference events, publishing and distributing books, and providing online investor relations services. The principal activities of the Company consist of: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) publishing, printing and distributing newspapers, distributing magazines and books, providing multimedia content and services, holding shares in subsidiaries, holding investments, and providing management services to subsidiaries.

40 38 Singapore Press Holdings SUMMARY DIRECTORS REPORT ARRANGEMENTS TO ENABLE DIRECTORS TO ACQUIRE BENEFITS 3. Neither during nor at the end of the current financial year was the Company a party to any arrangement whose object was to enable the Directors of the Company to acquire benefits through the acquisition of shares in or debentures of the Company or any other body corporate, except as disclosed under Share Options in the Company and Performance Shares in the Company in the Directors Report. DIRECTORS INTERESTS IN SHARES 4. The Directors holding office as at August 31, 2009 who had interests in shares and options in the Company and its subsidiaries as recorded in the register of Directors shareholdings were as follows: The Company Direct Interests Deemed Interests Sept 1, Aug 31, Sept 21, Sept 1, Aug 31, Sept 21, Management Shares Tony Tan Keng Yam Cham Tao Soon Chan Heng Loon Alan Willie Cheng Jue Hiang Ng Ser Miang Ngiam Tong Dow Philip N Pillai* Sum Soon Lim Yeo Ning Hong Yong Pung How Ordinary Shares Tony Tan Keng Yam 235, , , , , ,000 Cham Tao Soon 10,000 10,000 10,000 10,183 10,183 10,183 Chan Heng Loon Alan 107, , , Willie Cheng Jue Hiang 108, , ,500 12,750 12,750 12,750 Ngiam Tong Dow ,000 30,000 30,000 Philip N Pillai* 17,000 17,000 17, Yeo Ning Hong 33,660 33,660 33,660 54,697^ 54,697^ 54,697^ Yong Pung How 600, , ,000 4,708,300 4,500,000 4,500,000 ^ Held jointly by Dr Yeo Ning Hong and his spouse. * Dr Philip N Pillai stepped down as a Director with effect from September 30, Options for Ordinary Shares Chan Heng Loon Alan 1,275,000 1,275,000 1,275,

41 summary financial report SUMMARY DIRECTORS REPORT DIRECTORS INTERESTS IN SHARES (CONT D) Conditional Award of Performance Shares* Chan Heng Loon Alan Direct Interests Deemed Interests Sept 1, Aug 31, Sept 21, Sept 1, Aug 31, Sept 21, ,667 # shares to be Up to vested in January ,000 ## - ^^ - ^^ ,500 # shares to be Up to Up to Up to vested in January ,800 ## 45,800 ## 45,800 ## ,000 # shares to be Up to Up to Up to vested in January ,000 ## 225,000 ## 225,000 ## ,166 # shares to be Up to Up to Up to vested in January ,800 ## 69,800 ## 69,800 ## ,000 # shares to be Up to Up to Up to vested in January ,000 ## 225,000 ## 225,000 ## ,500 # shares to be Up to Up to Up to vested in January ,800 ## 46,800 ## 46,800 ## ,000 # shares to be Up to Up to vested in January ,000 ## 270,000 ## ,667 # shares to be Up to Up to vested in January ,000 ## 24,000 ## * Represents performance shares granted in FY 2007 to FY # The number of shares represents the shares required if awarded at 100% of the grant. ## The shares awarded at the vesting date could range from 0% to 150% depending on the level of achievement against the pre-set performance conditions. ^^ During the financial year, 23,000 shares were vested and awarded to Mr Chan Heng Loon Alan. Detailed information regarding Directors shareholdings can be obtained in accordance with Sections 164(8) and (9) of the Companies Act, Chapter 50. DIRECTORS CONTRACTUAL BENEFITS 5. Since the end of the previous financial year, no Director has received or become entitled to receive a benefit by reason of a contract made by the Company or a related corporation with the Director or with a firm of which he is a member or with a company in which he has a substantial financial interest, except as disclosed in the Directors Report and financial statements. SHARE OPTIONS IN THE COMPANY Singapore Press Holdings Group (1999) Share Option Scheme ( 1999 Scheme ) 6. (a) The 1999 Scheme was approved by shareholders at an Extraordinary General Meeting held on July 16, 1999 and is administered by the Remuneration Committee ( the Committee ). At another Extraordinary General Meeting held on December 5, 2006, the shareholders approved the adoption of the SPH Performance Share Plan and the 1999 Scheme was terminated with regard to the grant of further options. Options granted and outstanding prior to the termination will continue to be valid and be subject to the terms and conditions of the 1999 Scheme. (b) Details of options granted previously have been disclosed in the Directors Reports for the respective years. (c) The aggregate number of options granted since the commencement of the 1999 Scheme on July 16, 1999 to December 5, 2006 is 103,090,950 options to subscribe for ordinary shares.

42 40 Singapore Press Holdings SUMMARY DIRECTORS REPORT SHARE OPTIONS IN THE COMPANY (CONT D) Singapore Press Holdings Group (1999) Share Option Scheme ( 1999 Scheme ) (cont d) 7. Movements in the number of the unissued shares of the Company under option during the financial year and their exercise prices are as follows: Grant Expiry Exercise Balance Options Options Balance Date Date Price Exercised Lapsed S$5.60 6,878,200 - (127,500) 6,750, S$4.78 7,621,100 - (149,175) 7,471, S$ ,375 (22,000) (3,400) 769, S$3.91 3,371,700 - (14,025) 3,357, S$3.69 4,221,625 (14,900) (17,425) 4,189, S$ , , S$ ,591,375 - (62,050) 12,529, S$ ,437,200 - (399,550) 14,037,650 49,951,575 (36,900) (773,125) 49,141,550 PERFORMANCE SHARES IN THE COMPANY SPH Performance Share Plan ( the Plan ) 8. (a) The Plan of the Company was approved by shareholders at an Extraordinary General Meeting held on December 5, 2006 and is administered by the Committee. (b) (c) (d) Persons eligible to participate in the Plan are selected Group Employees of such rank and service period as the Committee may determine, and other participants selected by the Committee. Awards initially granted under the Plan are conditional and will be principally performance-based with performance conditions to be set over a multi-year performance period. Performance conditions include both market and non-market conditions. Performance conditions set are intended to be based on medium- to longer-term corporate objectives covering market competitiveness, quality of returns, business growth, productivity growth and total shareholder return objectives. The Plan contemplates the award of fully-paid ordinary shares, their equivalent cash value or combinations thereof, free of charge, provided that certain prescribed performance conditions are met and upon expiry of the prescribed vesting periods. 9. During the financial year, 2,320,005 performance shares were granted subject to the terms and conditions of the Plan as follows: No. of Performance Category No. of Persons Shares Granted Executive Director 1 230,000 1 Employee 254 2,090, ,000 granted with market conditions and 50,000 granted with non-market conditions ,000 granted with market conditions and 1,420,005 granted with non-market conditions ,320,005 The aggregate number of performance shares granted since the commencement of the Plan on December 5, 2006 to August 31, 2009 is 6,337,910 performance shares.

43 summary financial report SUMMARY DIRECTORS REPORT PERFORMANCE SHARES IN THE COMPANY (CONT D) SPH Performance Share Plan ( the Plan ) (cont d) Movements in the number of performance shares outstanding during the financial year are summarised below: Outstanding Outstanding and unvested Grant as at as at Date Adjusted* Granted Vested Lapsed ( 000) ( 000) ( 000) ( 000) ( 000) ( 000) , (510) (17) 1, , (19) 2, ,320 - (16) 2,304 * Adjusted at end of the performance period based on the level of achievement of pre-set performance conditions. The shares awarded at the vesting date could range from 0% to 150% of the grant, depending on the level of achievement against the pre-set performance conditions. AUDIT COMMITTEE 10. The Audit Committee comprises three members*, all of whom are independent non-executive directors. They are: Yeo Ning Hong (Chairman) Willie Cheng Jue Hiang Ngiam Tong Dow * Dr Philip N Pillai stepped down from the Audit Committee with effect from September 30, UNUSUAL ITEMS DURING AND AFTER THE FINANCIAL YEAR 11. In the opinion of the Directors, no item, transaction or event of a material and unusual nature has arisen during the financial year or in the interval between the end of the financial year and the date of this report which would substantially affect the results of the operations of the Group and of the Company for the financial year in which this report is made, or render any items in the financial statements of the Group and the Company for the current financial year misleading, and/or affect the ability of the Group and the Company in meeting the obligations as and when they fall due, except as disclosed in the notes to the full financial statements. The Summary Financial Statement set out on pages 37 to 46 was approved by the Board on October 12, 2009 and was signed on behalf of the Board by: Tony Tan Keng Yam Chairman Chan Heng Loon Alan Director Singapore, October 12, 2009

44 42 Singapore Press Holdings INDEPENDENT AUDITORS REPORT to the members of Singapore Press Holdings Limited We have examined the Summary Financial Statement set out on pages 44 to 46, which has been prepared by the directors of the Company. In our opinion, the Summary Financial Statement is consistent with the full financial statements and Directors Report of Singapore Press Holdings Limited (the Company ) and its subsidiaries (the Group ) for the financial year ended August 31, 2009, and complies with the requirements of Section 203A of the Singapore Companies Act, and regulations made thereunder, applicable to a Summary Financial Statement. For a better understanding of the state of affairs of the Company and of the Group as at August 31, 2009 and of the results of the Group for the financial year ended on that date and of the scope of our audit, the Summary Financial Statement should be read in conjunction with the full financial statements and our audit report thereon. We have issued an unqualified audit report dated October 12, 2009 on the full financial statements of the Group for the financial year ended August 31, 2009 which is as follows: INDEPENDENT AUDITORS REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF SINGAPORE PRESS HOLDINGS LIMITED We have audited the accompanying financial statements of Singapore Press Holdings Limited (the Company ) and its subsidiaries (the Group ) set out on pages # to #, which comprise the balance sheets of the Company and of the Group as at August 31, 2009, and the consolidated income statement, consolidated statement of changes in equity and consolidated cash flow statement of the Group for the financial year then ended, and a summary of significant accounting policies and other explanatory notes. Management s Responsibility for the Financial Statements Management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of these financial statements in accordance with the provisions of the Singapore Companies Act (Cap. 50) (the Act ) and Singapore Financial Reporting Standards. This responsibility includes: (a) (b) (c) devising and maintaining a system of internal accounting control sufficient to provide a reasonable assurance that assets are safeguarded against loss from unauthorised use or disposition; and transactions are properly authorised and that they are recorded as necessary to permit the preparation of true and fair profit and loss accounts and balance sheets and to maintain accountability of assets; selecting and applying appropriate accounting policies; and making accounting estimates that are reasonable in the circumstances. Auditors Responsibility Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audit. We conducted our audit in accordance with Singapore Standards on Auditing. Those Standards require that we comply with ethical requirements and plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance as to whether the financial statements are free from material misstatement. An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The procedures selected depend on the auditor s judgement, including the assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments, the auditor considers internal control relevant to the entity s preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the entity s internal control. An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinion.

45 summary financial report INDEPENDENT AUDITORS REPORT to the members of Singapore Press Holdings Limited Opinion In our opinion, (a) (b) the balance sheet of the Company and the consolidated financial statements of the Group are properly drawn up in accordance with the provisions of the Act and Singapore Financial Reporting Standards so as to give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Company and of the Group as at August 31, 2009, and the results, changes in equity and cash flows of the Group for the financial year ended on that date; and the accounting and other records required by the Act to be kept by the Company and by those subsidiaries incorporated in Singapore of which we are the auditors have been properly kept in accordance with the provisions of the Act. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Public Accountants and Certified Public Accountants Singapore, October 12, 2009 Note: # The page numbers are as stated in the Independent Auditors Report dated October 12, 2009 included in Singapore Press Holdings Limited s Annual Report for the financial year ended August 31, 2009.

46 44 Singapore Press Holdings BALANCE SHEETS as at August 31, 2009 GROUP COMPANY Aug 31, Aug 31, Aug 31, Aug 31, S$ 000 S$ 000 S$ 000 S$ 000 CAPITAL EMPLOYED Share capital 490, , , ,760 Treasury shares (25,578) (27,660) (25,578) (27,660) Reserves 219, ,439 50,557 54,545 Retained profit 1,370,704 1,365, , ,382 Shareholders interests 2,055,176 2,088,899 1,035,383 1,221,027 Minority interests 9,486 12, Total equity 2,064,662 2,101,277 1,035,383 1,221,027 EMPLOYMENT OF CAPITAL Non-current assets Property, plant and equipment 462, , , ,228 Investment properties 1,174,465 1,140, Investments in subsidiaries , ,840 Investments in associates 45,600 45,582 29,326 21,326 Investments in jointly-controlled entities 17,441 15, Long-term investments 244, ,297 28,146 34,860 Intangible assets 52,628 39, Other non-current assets 4,949 5,725 3,653 4,496 2,002,535 2,012, , ,750 Current assets Inventories 29,370 36,281 28,531 35,076 Trade receivables 434, ,991 87, ,009 Other receivables and prepayments 18,762 16,465 8,487 5,558 Short-term investments 448, , ,940 84,075 Derivative financial instruments 2,300 1, Amount owing by subsidiaries , ,837 Amount owing by associates 21 6,100-6,000 Amount owing by jointly-controlled entities Cash and cash equivalents 299, , ,637 71,471 1,232,823 1,138,265 1,116,253 1,159,057 Total assets 3,235,358 3,150,705 1,861,115 1,922,807 Current liabilities Trade payables 102, ,001 43,162 59,237 Other payables and accrued liabilities 133, , , ,865 Derivative financial instruments 129 2, Amount owing to subsidiaries , ,513 Amount owing to an associate Amount owing to a jointly-controlled entity 18,424 12,616 18,406 12,571 Borrowings Current income tax liabilities 71,584 92,173 44,285 63, , , , ,949 Non-current liabilities Other payables and accrued liabilities 22,858 21, Deferred income tax liabilities 80,232 75,461 44,196 46,831 Borrowings 723, , ,000 - Derivative financial instruments 16,792 10,983 1, , , ,949 46,831 Total liabilities 1,170,696 1,049, , ,780 Net assets 2,064,662 2,101,277 1,035,383 1,221,027

47 summary financial report CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT for the financial year ended August 31, 2009 GROUP S$ 000 S$ 000 Operating revenue Newspaper and Magazine 892,404 1,014,335 Property 365, ,294 Others 43,363 31,382 1,301,367 1,301,011 Other operating income 13,598 15,168 1,314,965 1,316,179 Materials, consumables and broadcasting costs (184,594) (176,605) Property development costs (68,567) (39,241) Staff costs (286,896) (333,098) Depreciation (67,752) (61,876) Other operating expenses (188,651) (184,536) Finance costs (21,546) (19,135) Profit before investment income, impairment charge on investments in associates and share of net loss of associates and jointly-controlled entities 496, ,688 Net (loss)/income from investments (6,186) 47,748 Impairment charge on investments in associates - (26,712) Share of net loss of associates and jointly-controlled entities (8,567) (716) Profit before taxation 482, ,008 Taxation (63,841) (86,083) Profit after taxation 418, ,925 Attributable to: Shareholders of the Company 421, ,444 Minority interests (3,516) (1,519) 418, ,925 Earnings per share (S$) Basic Diluted

48 46 Singapore Press Holdings NOTES TO THE SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENT August 31, NEW OR REVISED ACCOUNTING STANDARDS AND INTERPRETATIONS The Group has adopted the Interpretations to Singapore Financial Reporting Standards ( INT FRS ) that became effective in the current financial year. The adoption of these INT FRS did not result in any substantial changes to the Group s accounting policies nor any significant impact on these financial statements. 2. DIVIDENDS GROUP AND COMPANY S$ 000 S$ 000 Dividends paid: - Final tax-exempt dividend of 9 cents per share in respect of previous financial year (2008: 9 cents per share) 144, ,208 - Special final tax-exempt dividend of 10 cents per share in respect of previous financial year (2008: 10 cents per share) 160, ,231 - Interim tax-exempt dividend of 7 cents per share (2008: 8 cents per share) 112, , , ,721 (a) (b) The Directors have proposed a final tax-exempt (one-tier) dividend of 9 cents per share and a special final tax-exempt (one-tier) dividend of 9 cents per share for 2009, amounting to a total of S$288,567,000. These financial statements do not reflect these proposed dividends, which will be accounted for in shareholders interests as an appropriation of retained profit in the financial year ending August 31, 2010 when they are approved at the next annual general meeting. 3. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS Key management personnel compensation are as follows: GROUP S$ 000 S$ 000 Remuneration and other short-term employee benefits 17,193 17,540 Employers contribution to defined contribution plans Share-based compensation expense 3,119 2,553 20,692 20,547 Staff loans granted to key management personnel 1,059 1,169 The above includes total emoluments of the Company s Directors of S$3,050,000 (2008: S$2,984,000).

49 summary financial report OPTIONS AND AWARDS Details of the options and awards granted to a Director under the Singapore Press Holdings Group (1999) Share Option Scheme ( 1999 Scheme ) and the SPH Performance Share Plan ( Share Plan ) are as follows: 1999 Scheme Number of existing Aggregate Number of ordinary options Aggregate new ordinary shares granted and options shares issued transferred accepted since exercised since pursuant pursuant commencement commencement to exercise to exercise Aggregate of 1999 of 1999 Aggregate of options of options awards Scheme on Scheme on options during the during the outstanding outstanding financial year financial year Name of Director as at to to as at under review under review Chan Heng Loon Alan 1,275,000 2,125, ,000 1,275, Share Plan Aggregate awards granted since Aggregate commencement awards Aggregate of Share released Aggregate awards Plan on during the awards outstanding financial year outstanding Name of Director as at to under review as at Chan Heng Loon Alan Up to Up to 23,000 Up to 590, , ,400 In respect of the 1999 Scheme and the Share Plan: 1. No options were granted under the 1999 Scheme during the financial year under review as the scheme was terminated with regard to the grant of further options following the adoption of the Share Plan on December 5, The Rules of the 1999 Scheme do not allow for options to be granted at a discount. 3. No ordinary shares have been delivered pursuant to awards granted under the Share Plan. 4. No options or awards under the 1999 Scheme and the Share Plan have been granted to controlling shareholders of the Company or their associates. 5. No participant has received 5% or more of the aggregate of (a) the total number of new ordinary shares available under the Share Plan and 1999 Scheme collectively, and (b) the total number of existing ordinary shares delivered pursuant to awards released under the Share Plan and options exercised under the 1999 Scheme. Copies of the 1999 Scheme and the Share Plan Rules are available for inspection at the Company s registered office.

50 48 Singapore Press Holdings SHAREHOLDING STATISTICS as at October 8, 2009 DISTRIBUTION OF ORDINARY SHAREHOLDERS BY SIZE OF SHAREHOLDINGS No. of Size of Shareholdings Shareholders % No. of Shares * %* , , ,000-10,000 36, ,350, ,001-1,000,000 9, ,961, ,000,001 and above ,002,864, Total 47, ,586,865, TWENTY LARGEST ORDINARY SHAREHOLDERS No. Name No. of Shares % * 1 CITIBANK NOMINEES SINGAPORE PTE LTD 219,118, DBS NOMINEES PTE LTD 177,749, HSBC (SINGAPORE) NOMINEES PTE LTD 156,633, DBSN SERVICES PTE LTD 80,407, UNITED OVERSEAS BANK NOMINEES PTE LTD 51,058, RAFFLES NOMINEES PTE LTD 31,349, KO TECK SIANG PTE LTD 16,550, UNIVERSITY OF MALAYA 15,477, LEE FOUNDATION STATES OF MALAYA 15,215, DB NOMINEES (S) PTE LTD 12,720, TAN ENG SIAN 12,500, OVERSEA CHINESE BANK NOMINEES PTE LTD 10,839, LEE PINEAPPLE COMPANY PTE LTD 10,000, UOB NOMINEES (2006) PTE LTD 8,633, LEE FOUNDATION 8,210, CHAN SIEW KIM ALICE 8,000, NANYANG PRESS (SINGAPORE) LIMITED 7,973, OCBC SECURITIES PRIVATE LTD 7,529, MERRILL LYNCH (SINGAPORE) PTE LTD 7,338, OCBC NOMINEES SINGAPORE PTE LTD 7,087, Total: 864,393, * Shareholdings exclusive of 6,270,609 treasury shares

51 summary financial report SHAREHOLDING STATISTICS as at October 8, 2009 DISTRIBUTION OF MANAGEMENT SHAREHOLDERS BY SIZE OF SHAREHOLDINGS No. of Size of Shareholdings Shareholders % No. of Shares % ,000-10, ,001-1,000, ,183, ,000,001 and above ,102, Total ,285, HOLDERS OF MANAGEMENT SHARES No. Name No. of Shares % 1 THE GREAT EASTERN LIFE ASSURANCE CO LTD 3,681, OVERSEA-CHINESE BANKING CORPORATION LTD 2,736, NTUC INCOME INSURANCE COOPERATIVE LIMITED 2,661, SINGAPORE TELECOMMUNICATIONS LIMITED 2,166, THE DEVELOPMENT BANK OF SINGAPORE LTD 1,547, UNITED OVERSEAS BANK LTD 1,310, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 872, FRASER & NEAVE, LIMITED 655, FULLERTON (PRIVATE) LIMITED 655, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER DIRECTORS (FOUR EACH) Total: 16,285, Not less than 99.6% of the ordinary shares in the Company is held by the public and Rule 723 of the Singapore Exchange Listing Manual has been complied with. VOTING RIGHTS OF SHAREHOLDERS The holders of management and ordinary shares shall be entitled either on a poll or by a show of hands to one (1) vote for each share, EXCEPT that on any resolution relating to the appointment or dismissal of a director or any member of the staff of the Company, the holders of the management shares shall be entitled either on a poll or by show of hands to two hundred (200) votes for each management share held.

52 50 Singapore Press Holdings NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING SINGAPORE PRESS HOLDINGS LIMITED (Co Regn No : E) NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Twenty-Fifth Annual General Meeting of the Company will be held at The Auditorium, 1000 Toa Payoh North, News Centre, 1st Storey, Annexe Block, Singapore on Friday, December 4, 2009 at a.m. for the following business: ORDINARY BUSINESS 1. To receive and adopt the Directors Report and Audited Accounts for the financial year ended August 31, To declare a final dividend of 9 cents and a special dividend of 9 cents, on a tax-exempt (one-tier) basis, in respect of the financial year ended August 31, (i) To re-appoint Cham Tao Soon as a Director of the Company, pursuant to Section 153(6) of the Companies Act, Chapter 50 of Singapore (the Companies Act ), to hold such office from the date of this Annual General Meeting until the next Annual General Meeting of the Company. (ii) (iii) To re-appoint Ngiam Tong Dow as a Director of the Company, pursuant to Section 153(6) of the Companies Act, to hold such office from the date of this Annual General Meeting until the next Annual General Meeting of the Company. To re-appoint Yong Pung How as a Director of the Company, pursuant to Section 153(6) of the Companies Act, to hold such office from the date of this Annual General Meeting until the next Annual General Meeting of the Company. 4. To re-elect the following Directors who are retiring in accordance with the Company s Articles of Association, and who, being eligible, offer themselves for re-election: (i) (ii) (iii) Willie Cheng Jue Hiang Yeo Ning Hong Lucien Wong Yuen Kuai 5. To approve Directors fees of S$953,000 (2008 : S$983,000). 6. To appoint Auditors and to authorise the Directors to fix their remuneration. 7. To transact any other business of an Annual General Meeting.

53 summary financial report NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING SINGAPORE PRESS HOLDINGS LIMITED (Co Regn No : E) SPECIAL BUSINESS 8. To consider and, if thought fit, to pass, with or without modifications, the following resolutions which will be proposed as Ordinary Resolutions: (i) That pursuant to Section 161 of the Companies Act, Chapter 50 and the listing rules of the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited (the SGX-ST ), and subject to the provisions of the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act, Chapter 206, authority be and is hereby given to the Directors of the Company to: (a) (i) issue shares in the capital of the Company whether by way of rights, bonus or otherwise; and/or (ii) make or grant offers, agreements or options (collectively, Instruments ) that might or would require shares to be issued, including but not limited to the creation and issue of (as well as adjustments to) warrants, debentures or other instruments convertible into shares, at any time and upon such terms and conditions and for such purposes and to such persons as the Directors may in their absolute discretion deem fit; and (b) (notwithstanding that the authority conferred by this Resolution may have ceased to be in force) issue shares in pursuance of any Instrument made or granted by the Directors while this Resolution is in force, provided that: (1) the aggregate number of shares to be issued pursuant to this Resolution (including shares to be issued in pursuance of Instruments made or granted pursuant to this Resolution) does not exceed 50 per cent. of the total number of issued shares (excluding treasury shares) in the capital of the Company (as calculated in accordance with sub-paragraph (2) below), of which the aggregate number of shares to be issued other than on a pro rata basis to shareholders of the Company (including shares to be issued in pursuance of Instruments made or granted pursuant to this Resolution) does not exceed 10 per cent. of the total number of issued shares (excluding treasury shares) in the capital of the Company (as calculated in accordance with sub-paragraph (2) below); (2) (subject to such manner of calculation and adjustments as may be prescribed by the SGX-ST) for the purpose of determining the aggregate number of shares that may be issued under sub-paragraph (1) above, the percentage of issued shares shall be based on the total number of issued shares (excluding treasury shares) in the capital of the Company at the time this Resolution is passed, after adjusting for: (i) (ii) new shares arising from the conversion or exercise of any convertible securities or share options or vesting of share awards which are outstanding or subsisting at the time this Resolution is passed; and any subsequent bonus issue, consolidation or subdivision of shares; (3) in exercising the authority conferred by this Resolution, the Company shall comply with the provisions of the listing manual of the SGX-ST for the time being in force (unless such compliance has been waived by the SGX-ST) and the Articles of Association for the time being of the Company; and (4) (unless revoked or varied by the Company in general meeting) the authority conferred by this Resolution shall continue in force until the conclusion of the next Annual General Meeting of the Company or the date by which the next Annual General Meeting of the Company is required by law to be held, whichever is the earlier.

54 52 Singapore Press Holdings NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING SINGAPORE PRESS HOLDINGS LIMITED (Co Regn No : E) (ii) (iii) That approval be and is hereby given to the Directors of the Company to grant awards in accordance with the provisions of the SPH Performance Share Plan (the SPH Performance Share Plan ) and to allot and issue such number of ordinary shares in the capital of the Company ( Ordinary Shares ) as may be required to be delivered pursuant to the vesting of awards under the SPH Performance Share Plan, provided that the aggregate number of new Ordinary Shares allotted and issued and/or to be allotted and issued, when aggregated with existing Ordinary Shares (including Ordinary Shares held in treasury) delivered and/or to be delivered, pursuant to the Singapore Press Holdings Group (1999) Share Option Scheme and the SPH Performance Share Plan, shall not exceed 10 per cent. of the total number of issued Ordinary Shares (excluding treasury shares) from time to time. That: (a) for the purposes of Sections 76C and 76E of the Companies Act, the exercise by the Directors of the Company of all the powers of the Company to purchase or otherwise acquire issued Ordinary Shares not exceeding in aggregate the Maximum Limit (as hereafter defined), at such price or prices as may be determined by the Directors of the Company from time to time up to the Maximum Price (as hereafter defined), whether by way of: (i) (ii) market purchase(s) on the SGX-ST; and/or off-market purchase(s) (if effected otherwise than on the SGX-ST) in accordance with any equal access scheme(s) as may be determined or formulated by the Directors as they consider fit, which scheme(s) shall satisfy all the conditions prescribed by the Companies Act; and otherwise in accordance with all other laws and regulations and rules of the SGX-ST as may for the time being be applicable, be and is hereby authorised and approved generally and unconditionally (the Share Buy Back Mandate ), (b) unless varied or revoked by the Company in general meeting, the authority conferred on the Directors of the Company pursuant to the Share Buy Back Mandate may be exercised by the Directors of the Company at any time and from time to time during the period commencing from the date of the passing of this Resolution and expiring on the earlier of: (i) (ii) the date on which the next Annual General Meeting of the Company is held; and the date by which the next Annual General Meeting of the Company is required by law to be held;

55 summary financial report NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING SINGAPORE PRESS HOLDINGS LIMITED (Co Regn No : E) (c) in this Resolution: Average Closing Price means the average of the last dealt prices of an Ordinary Share for the five consecutive trading days on which the Ordinary Shares are transacted on the SGX-ST immediately preceding the date of market purchase by the Company or, as the case may be, the date of the making of the offer pursuant to the off-market purchase, and deemed to be adjusted, in accordance with the listing rules of the SGX-ST, for any corporate action which occurs after the relevant five day period; date of the making of the offer means the date on which the Company announces its intention to make an offer for the purchase or acquisition of Ordinary Shares from holders of Ordinary Shares, stating therein the purchase price (which shall not be more than the Maximum Price calculated on the foregoing basis) for each Ordinary Share and the relevant terms of the equal access scheme for effecting the off-market purchase; Maximum Limit means that number of issued Ordinary Shares representing 10% of the total number of the issued Ordinary Shares as at the date of the passing of this Resolution (excluding any Ordinary Shares which are held as treasury shares as at that date); and Maximum Price, in relation to an Ordinary Share to be purchased or acquired, means the purchase price (excluding brokerage, commission, applicable goods and services tax and other related expenses) which shall not exceed, in the case of a market purchase of an Ordinary Share and off-market purchase pursuant to an equal access scheme, 105% of the Average Closing Price of the Ordinary Share; and (d) the Directors of the Company and/or any of them be and are hereby authorised to complete and do all such acts and things (including executing such documents as may be required) as they and/ or he may consider expedient or necessary to give effect to the transactions contemplated and/or authorised by this Resolution. By Order of the Board Ginney Lim May Ling Khor Siew Kim Company Secretaries Singapore, November 4, 2009 Notes: A Member entitled to attend and vote at the General Meeting is entitled to appoint a proxy to attend and vote in his stead and the proxy need not be a Member of the Company. The instrument appointing the proxy must be lodged at the Company s Share Registration Office, Tricor Barbinder Share Registration Services (A division of Tricor Singapore Pte. Ltd.), 8 Cross Street, #11-00 PWC Building, Singapore not less than 48 hours before the time fixed for the meeting.

56 54 Singapore Press Holdings NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING SINGAPORE PRESS HOLDINGS LIMITED (Co Regn No : E) EXPLANATORY NOTES & STATEMENT PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 72 OF THE COMPANY S ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION 1. In relation to Ordinary Resolution No. 3(i): Cham Tao Soon will, upon re-appointment, continue as Deputy Chairman, as Chairman of the Nominating Committee and as a member of the Executive Committee and Remuneration Committee. He is considered an independent Director. 2. In relation to Ordinary Resolution No. 3(ii): Ngiam Tong Dow will, upon re-appointment, continue as Chairman of the Remuneration Committee and as a member of the Audit Committee. He is considered an independent Director. 3. In relation to Ordinary Resolution No. 3(iii): Yong Pung How will, upon re-appointment, continue as a member of the Nominating Committee. He is considered an independent Director. 4. In relation to Ordinary Resolution No. 4(i): Willie Cheng Jue Hiang will, upon re-election, continue as a member of the Audit Committee and Remuneration Committee. He is considered an independent Director. 5. In relation to Ordinary Resolution No. 4(ii): Yeo Ning Hong will, upon re-election, continue as Chairman of the Audit Committee and as a member of the Executive Committee. He is considered an independent Director. 6. In relation to Ordinary Resolution No. 4(iii) Lucien Wong Yuen Kuai will, upon re-election, continue as a member of the Audit Committee. He is considered an independent Director. 7 The effects of the resolutions under the heading Special Business in the Notice of the Twenty-Fifth Annual General Meeting are: (a) Ordinary Resolution No. 8(i) is to authorise the Directors of the Company from the date of that meeting until the next Annual General Meeting, subject to the provisions of the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act, Chapter 206 of Singapore, to issue shares in the capital of the Company and/or to make or grant instruments (such as warrants or debentures) convertible into shares, and to issue shares in pursuance of such instruments, up to a number not exceeding in total 50 per cent. of the total number of issued shares (excluding treasury shares) in the capital of the Company, of which up to 10 per cent. of the total number of issued shares (excluding treasury shares) in the capital of the Company may be issued other than on a pro rata basis to shareholders. For the purpose of determining the aggregate number of shares that may be issued, the percentage of issued shares shall be based on the total number of issued shares (excluding treasury shares) in the capital of the Company at the time that Ordinary Resolution No. 8(i) is passed, after adjusting for (i) new shares arising from the conversion or exercise of any convertible securities or share options or vesting of share awards which are outstanding or subsisting at the time that Ordinary Resolution 8(i) is passed, and (ii) any subsequent bonus issue, consolidation or sub-division of shares. For the avoidance of doubt, any consolidation or sub-division of shares in the capital of the Company will require shareholders approval.

57 summary financial report NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING SINGAPORE PRESS HOLDINGS LIMITED (Co Regn No : E) (b) (c) Ordinary Resolution No. 8(ii) is to empower the directors to offer and grant awards, and to allot and issue new ordinary shares in the capital of the Company, pursuant to the SPH Performance Share Plan (which was approved by shareholders at the Extraordinary General Meeting held on 5 December 2006), provided that the aggregate number of new ordinary shares allotted and issued and/or to be allotted and issued, when aggregated with the existing ordinary shares (including ordinary shares held in treasury) delivered and/or to be delivered, pursuant to the Singapore Press Holdings Group (1999) Share Option Scheme and the SPH Performance Share Plan, shall not exceed 10 per cent. of the total number of issued ordinary shares in the capital of the Company (excluding ordinary shares held in treasury) from time to time. Ordinary Resolution No. 8(iii) is to renew the mandate to permit the Company to purchase or acquire issued ordinary shares in the capital of the Company on the terms and subject to the conditions of the Resolution. The Company may use internal sources of funds, or a combination of internal resources and external borrowings, to finance the purchase or acquisition of its ordinary shares. The amount of funding required for the Company to purchase or acquire its ordinary shares, and the impact on the Company s financial position, cannot be ascertained as at the date of this Notice as these will depend on the number of ordinary shares purchased or acquired and the price at which such ordinary shares were purchased or acquired and whether the ordinary shares purchased or acquired are held in treasury or cancelled. The financial effects of the purchase or acquisition of such ordinary shares by the Company pursuant to the proposed Share Buy Back Mandate on the audited financial accounts of the Company and its subsidiaries for the financial year ended 31 August 2009, based on certain assumptions, are set out in paragraph 2.6 of the Letter to Shareholders dated 4 November 2009, which is enclosed together with the Summary Financial Report.

58 56 Singapore Press Holdings CORPORATE INFORMATION EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Tony Tan Keng Yam (Chairman) Cham Tao Soon Chan Heng Loon Alan Sum Soon Lim Yeo Ning Hong NOMINATING COMMITTEE Cham Tao Soon (Chairman) Tony Tan Keng Yam Ng Ser Miang Yong Pung How COMPANY SECRETARIES Ginney Lim May Ling Khor Siew Kim REGISTERED OFFICE 1000, Toa Payoh North News Centre Singapore Tel: (65) Fax: (65) Co.Reg.No E REMUNERATION COMMITTEE Ngiam Tong Dow (Chairman) Tony Tan Keng Yam Cham Tao Soon Willie Cheng Jue Hiang AUDIT COMMITTEE* Yeo Ning Hong (Chairman) Willie Cheng Jue Hiang Ngiam Tong Dow Lucien Wong Yuen Kuai # SHARE REGISTRATION OFFICE Tricor Barbinder Share Registration Services (A division of Tricor Singapore Pte Ltd) 8 Cross Street, #11-00 PWC Building Singapore Tel: (65) AUDITORS PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP 8 Cross Street, #17-00 PWC Building Singapore AUDIT PARTNER: Ooi Chee Kar (Appointed in 2008) * Dr Philip N Pillai stepped down from the Audit Committee with effect from September 30, 2009 # Mr Lucien Wong Yuen Kuai was appointed to the Audit Committee on October 15, 2009

59 PROXY FORM Singapore Press Holdings Limited (Incorporated in Singapore) Co. Reg. No E summary financial report IMPORTANT 1. For investors who have used their CPF monies to buy shares of Singapore Press Holdings Limited, this Report is forwarded to them FOR INFORMATION ONLY. 2. This proxy form is not valid for use by CPF investors and shall be ineffective for all intents and purposes if used or purported to be used by them. I/We, of being a member/members of the above named Company, hereby appoint the Chairman of the Meeting, or Name Address NRIC/Passport Number Proportion of Shareholdings (%) and/or (delete as appropriate) as my/our proxy/proxies to attend and to vote for me/us on my/our behalf and, if necessary, to demand a poll, at the Annual General Meeting of the Company to be held at The Auditorium, 1000 Toa Payoh North, News Centre, 1st Storey, Annexe Block, Singapore on December 4, 2009 at a.m. and at any adjournment thereof. (Please indicate with an X in the spaces provided whether you wish your vote(s) to be cast for or against the Resolutions as set out in the Notice of Annual General Meeting. Alternatively, please indicate the number of votes as appropriate. In the absence of specific directions, the proxy/proxies will vote or abstain as he/they may think fit, as he/they will on any other matter arising at the Annual General Meeting. No. Resolution Ordinary Business 1. To adopt Directors Report and Audited Accounts 2. To declare a Final Dividend and a Special Dividend 3. To re-appoint Directors pursuant to Section 153(6) of the Companies Act, Cap. 50 (i) Cham Tao Soon (ii) Ngiam Tong Dow (iii) Yong Pung How 4. To re-elect Directors: (i) Willie Cheng Jue Hiang (ii) Yeo Ning Hong (iii) Lucien Wong Yuen Kuai 5. To approve Directors fees 6. To appoint Auditors and authorise Directors to fix their remuneration 7. To transact any other business Special Business 8. (i) To approve the Ordinary Resolution pursuant to Section 161 of the Companies Act, Cap. 50 (ii) To authorise Directors to grant awards and to allot and issue shares in accordance with the provisions of the SPH Performance Share Plan (iii) To approve the renewal of the Share Buy Back Mandate To be used on a Show of Hands For Against To be used in the event of a Poll No. of votes For No. of votes Against Dated this day of 2009 Total Number of Ordinary Shares held Signature(s) of Member(s) or Common Seal Total Number of Management Shares held IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ NOTES ON THE REVERSE

60 58 Singapore Press Holdings PROXY FORM Singapore Press Holdings Limited (Incorporated in Singapore) Co. Reg. No E IMPORTANT Note: 1. Please insert the total number of ordinary shares and/or management shares ( Shares ) held by you. If you have ordinary shares entered against your name in the Depository Register (as defined in Section 130A of the Companies Act, Chapter 50 of Singapore), you should insert that number of ordinary shares. If you have Shares registered in your name in the Register of Members, you should insert that number of Shares. If you have ordinary shares entered against your name in the Depository Register and Shares registered in your name in the Register of Members, you should insert the aggregate number of Shares entered against your name in the Depository Register and registered in your name in the Register of Members. If no number is inserted, the instrument appointing a proxy or proxies shall be deemed to relate to all the Shares held by you. 2. If any proxy other than the Chairman of the Meeting is to be appointed, please strike out the words the Chairman of the Meeting and insert the name and address of the proxy desired in the box provided. If the box is left blank or incomplete, the Chairman of the Meeting shall be deemed to be appointed as your proxy. 3. A Member of the Company entitled to attend and vote at a meeting of the Company is entitled to appoint one or two proxies to attend and vote instead of him. 4. Where a Member appoints two proxies, the appointments shall be invalid unless he specifies the proportion of his shareholding (expressed as a percentage of the whole) to be represented by each proxy. 5. The instrument appointing a proxy or proxies must be deposited at the Share Registration Office of the Company at Tricor Barbinder Share Registration Services (A division of Tricor Singapore Pte. Ltd.), 8 Cross Street #11-00, PWC Building, Singapore , not less than 48 hours before the time appointed for the Annual General Meeting. 6. The instrument appointing a proxy or proxies must be under the hand of the appointor or of his attorney duly authorised in writing. Where the instrument appointing a proxy or proxies is executed by a corporation, it must be executed either under its seal or under the hand of an officer or attorney duly authorised. 7. A corporation which is a Member may authorise by resolution of its directors or other governing body such person as it thinks fit to act as its representative at the Annual General Meeting, in accordance with Section 179 of the Companies Act, Chapter 50 of Singapore. 8. The Company shall be entitled to reject the instrument appointing a proxy or proxies if it is incomplete, improperly completed or illegible or where the true intentions of the appointor are not ascertainable from the instructions of the appointor specified in the instrument appointing a proxy or proxies. In addition, in the case of ordinary shares entered in the Depository Register, the Company may reject any instrument appointing a proxy or proxies lodged if the Member, being the appointor, is not shown to have ordinary shares entered against his name in the Depository Register as at 48 hours before the time appointed for holding the Annual General Meeting, as certified by The Central Depository (Pte) Limited to the Company.

61 summary financial report REQUEST FORM Singapore Press Holdings Limited (Incorporated in Singapore) Co. Reg. No E November 4, 2009 Dear Shareholder This Annual Report comprises two separate reports: (i) (ii) the Summary Financial Report which contains a review of the Singapore Press Holdings Limited ( SPH ) Group for the financial year ended August 31, 2009, the Directors Report and a summary of the audited financial statements of the Company and the Group; and the Annual Report which contains the full financial statements of the Company and the Group for the financial year ended August 31, 2009 The Summary Financial Report is automatically provided (unless instructed otherwise) to all existing shareholders. The Annual Report is provided at no cost upon request. For shareholders who are receiving this Summary Financial Report for the first time, or who did not respond previously, if you wish to receive a copy of the Annual Report for FY 2009, and for future financial years as long as you are a shareholder, please complete the request form below by ticking the appropriate box and returning it to SPH c/o Tricor Barbinder Share Registration Services by November 12, If we do not receive your request form, it would indicate that you do not wish to receive copies of the Annual Report for FY 2009 and for future financial years. For shareholders who have indicated to us previously that you wish to receive the Annual Report for as long as you are a shareholder, you may change your instructions by ticking the relevant box in the request form below and returning it to SPH c/o Tricor Barbinder Share Registration Services by November 12, If we do not receive your request form, it would indicate that there is no change to your instructions. Your latest request will supersede the earlier requests received by us. Please note that the Annual Report for FY 2009 will also be available at the Company s website Yours faithfully, For and on behalf of Singapore Press Holdings Limited Ginney Lim May Ling Khor Siew Kim Company Secretaries To: Singapore Press Holdings Limited N.B. Please tick one box only. An incomplete or improperly completed request will not be processed. Please send me a copy of the Summary Financial Report for future financial years and for as long as I am an SPH shareholder. Please send me a copy of the Annual Report, in addition to the Summary Financial Report, for the financial year ended August 31, 2009 and for as long as I am an SPH shareholder. I do not wish to receive copies of the Summary Financial Report or the Annual Report, for the financial year ended August 31, 2009, and for as long as I am an SPH shareholder. Name of Shareholder NRIC/Passport Number CDP Securities Account No. Mailing Address Signature Date

62 60 Singapore Press Holdings First fold here Second fold here BUSINESS REPLY SERVICE PERMIT NO Postage will be paid by addressee. For posting in Singapore only. Singapore Press Holdings Limited Tricor Barbinder Share Registration Services (A division of Tricor Singapore Pte. Ltd.) 8 Cross Street #11-00, PWC Building Singapore Fold along this line and glue overleaf

63 Printed by SPH on UNISET press at Media Centre

64 SINGAPORE PRESS HOLDINGS LIMITED 1000 TOA PAYOH NORTH NEWS CENTRE SINGAPORE CO. REG NO E