Wednesday, March 14, 2018

SPH

Singapore Press Holdings Ltd

Incorporated in 1984, main board-listed Singapore Press Holdings Ltd (SPH) is Asia’s leading media organisation, engaging minds and enriching lives across multiple languages and platforms.

Media

SPH's core business is publishing of newspapers, magazines and books in both print and digital editions. It also owns other digital products, online classifieds, radio stations and outdoor media.

Properties

On the property front, SPH owns 70% in a real estate investment trust called SPH REIT which comprises Paragon, a premier upscale retail mall and medical suite/office property in Orchard Road and The Clementi Mall, a mid-market suburban mall.
SPH also owns and operates The Seletar Mall. It built an upmarket residential condominium, Sky@eleven, at Thomson Road, and is developing a new commercial cum residential site at Woodleigh Road. It also has a stake in Chinatown Point.
Other Businesses
It is in the aged care sector and owns Orange Valley Healthcare with the acquisition of the nursing home provider for an invested amount of $164 million in April 2017, Singapore’s largest private nursing home operator.
SPH runs a regional events arm and a chain of Buzz retail outlets. It also invested in the education business - MindChamps to further strengthen its education portfolio and entering into a joint venture in August 2017 that involves investing up to $8.5 million in Han Language Centre. When completed, SPH will hold a 75 per cent share in Han Language Centre.
Singapore Press Holdings is also increasing its stake in Handshakes, the analytics platform that visually and interactively maps out relationships and events between companies and persons.
Wholly-owned subsidiary, SPH Interactive Pte Ltd (SPHI) has subscribed for an additional 5% in the total share capital of DC Frontiers (DCF), the operator of Handshakes, for $2.1 million. Following the completion of the transaction, SPHI's stake in DCF will increase from 20% to 25%.
As can be seen from the Past years gross revenue has been dropping from 1231m to 1018m.
Total page count decline moderated at -12.7% yoy. Based on our page count of Singapore Press Holdings’ (SPH) The Straits Times, total page count was down 12.7% yoy in 2QFY18 while the three segments (Recruit, Classifieds, Display) reported a 19%, 16% and 11% yoy decline in page counts respectively. The decline was driven primarily by the Display segment, which accounted for two-thirds of the total yoy decline on an absolute basis. The quarter’s decline represented a moderation from 1QFY18’s -13.6% yoy.
The drop in media (print ) may not be able to cover by the revenue generated by other businesses. It may take quite sometimes before we can see further improvement.
Net Income has been dropping from $404 million(2014) to $361 million (2017).
Dividend has been decreasing from 15 cents to current 9 cents. A drop of whopping 40%.


In my opinion,It seems that SPH has successfully diversified it's revenue streams away from it's traditional core print and media business. Now, property and other income segments contribute more profits before taxation than core print and media business to stem the overall fall in profits. Also, cost cutting measures are seeing results. Now, SPH is a true conglomerate that derives it's profits from different diversified sources and no longer heavy on it's core print and media business. 
Will this be the turnaround point finally for SPH?
Today the share price has again weaken by another 8 cents to $2.46. 

With NAV at $2.207, PE of 11.5X, Dividend yield of 3.6% is looking quite attractive.
Looking at the past dividend being payout. The average dividend for past 5 years is about 12 cents. I have roughly estimated the fair value is about $2.40.
The current price is just about 8 cents shy away from the fair value of $2.40 and roughly about 28 cents away from the NAV. It might be a good candidate / opportunity to have a second look on this true blue chips counter..









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