£323m payout sparks up Singapore

TRADE in Asia was subdued today with little in the way of a strong lead from Wall Street as the long Easter weekend approached. But media company Singapore Press Holdings sparkled in

The payout, announced together with second-quarter profits and a five-for-one stock split, boosted State-linked SPH's shares by S$1 or 5.2% to S$20.30.The rise helped the benchmark Straits Times index to advance by 11.36 points to 1893.3.

SPH's flagship publication is the English-language Straits Times, which has reported events in the city for more than a century and a half. SPH's stable also includes virtually every other newspaper in the city state.

Fund managers hold SPH - as they do other media stocks - as a cyclical play on the local economy. Ad revenues tend to mirror changes in the wider economy and, with growth tipped to hit as much as 7% the year, its earnings are seen as being on an upward curve.

Investors with SPH shares also in effect lend support to Singapore's authoritarian leaders as the newspaper group is a key prop in their running of the country. Management control of SPH - in the form of so-called golden shares - is determineddirectly by the Singapore government. The most recent set of SPH figures showed an expected drop of 37% over the half year to S$173m. The decline came as the year-ago numbers were flattered by a gain from the partial sale of SPH's holding in telecoms group Mobile One (M1).

There may be other similar gains to come. SPH still owns a stake in M1 and one in rival operator StarHub, plus a slew of properties including a shopping centre in the heart of Singapore's main retail district. Executives said these would be divested over the next three years as the company moved again to focus on core operations.

The rest of the market was mixed. State-linked lender DBS rose 20 cents to S$14.10 after selling off a minority stake in a small Hong Kong bank. DBS, which already owns Hong Kong's Dao Heng Bank, pocketed S$265.4m for 10% of Wing Lung Bank. The shares were bought by Wing Lung's controlling Wu family.

Rival United Overseas Bank was also active. It rose 10 cents to S$13.50 after scooping up 23% of Bank Buena Indonesia for an undisclosed sum. Singapore Airlines - which was boosted yesterday by government plans to help it see off rising competition, including new budget airlines - was level at S$11.20.

In Sydney, News Corp preferred shares bolted higher after Rupert Murdoch announced that the media conglomerate would shift its primary listing to the US from Australia.

The proposal will see shareholders exchange existing ordinary and dividend preferred shares for equivalent voting and non-voting shares in the new US company. Brokers said price differentials between the various classes of stock in US media firms suggested that News Corp's preferred shares were undervalued.

They rose 86 cents or 7.9% to A$11.77 while the ordinary shares traded at A$12.39, up 23 cents or 1.9%. The All Ordinaries index advanced by 14 points to 3470.

Japanese equities lost ground as profit-taking ran counter to hopes that the economy continues to improve. The Nikkei 225 Average closed down 60.08 points at 12,019.62.