Mr Tay, 59, a veteran in the magazine publishing industry, is also CEO of SPHM and has been with SPH for 25 years.

He began his publishing career as Personnel Manager of the former Chinese newspaper Nanyang Siang Pau in 1979, and moved to marketing when he was seconded to the now defunct Singapore Monitor in 1982. Since then, he has held various positions in SPH, including General Manager of the group's Chinese Newspapers Division's editorial services and promotions, and head of Corporate Relations. He moved to SPHM in 1999.

Mr Tay's new appointment follows the completion of the $32.9 million acquisition of all magazine titles owned by Blu Inc Group from Vantage Corporation Ltd, and its five publishing subsidiaries, namely, Blu Inc Holdings (S) Pte Ltd, Blu Inc Media Pte Ltd, Blu Inc Publishing (S) Pte Ltd, Blu Inc Ventures Pte Ltd and Magazines Incorporated Pte Ltd, on 1 September 2004.

The move has added another 40 magazine titles, including Female, NuYou, Torque, Men's Health and The Peak, to the SPHM's suite of bestselling titles like Her World, Her World Brides, Home & Decor, Young Parents, Shape and Maxim, bringing the total number of magazines published by SPHM to 63.

The latest transaction follows SPHM's raft of joint ventures to publish its Her World editions in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and China, and will further strengthen SPHM's position as the region's leading magazine publisher.

On Mr Tay's appointment to helm the Blu Inc Group, SPH's CEO Alan Chan said: "David, with his vast experience in the magazine business and keen eye for quality content, knows the market place and the challenges well. He will bring a lot of new ideas and a lot of drive and energy to the new addition in the SPHM family.

"We are confident that he will help push all the SPHM's products to higher standards, leveraging on the enlarged pool of creative talents it now has."

Added Mr Arthur Seet, Chairman of SPHM: "I believe David will help the Company realise its ambition of becoming a major regional player sooner, with his intimate knowledge of the magazine market."

He said SPHM and Blu Inc will run independently of each other, and manage their own products and editorial teams. For example, Her World and Female will continue to maintain their own distinctive styles which appeal to different readers. There will also be two different advertising sales teams and different ad rates.

On his added new post, Mr David Tay said: "I am looking forward to the challenge of running two companies separately. Blu Inc comes with a strong management and editorial team and its quality magazine titles are an excellent fit with our current stable of magazines.

"The addition of Blu Inc will give SPHM a stronger platform to expand our publishing business, and our readers and advertisers even wider choices. It will certainly be another growth engine of SPHM's business in our thrust into the regional markets."

Issued by Singapore Press Holdings

For more information, please contact:

Irene Ngoo
Assistant Vice President
Corporate Relations
DID: 6329 1216
Email: ingoo@sph.com.sg

About SPH Magazines Pte Ltd
SPH Magazines Pte Ltd (formerly known as Times Periodicals Pte Ltd), a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore Press Holdings Ltd, is the leading magazine publisher in Singapore with all its titles maintaining No.1 readership in their respective sectors in the Nielsen Media Index 2003.

• Her World: Singapore's No.1 womenís magazine with 141,000 readership.
• Shape: Singapore's only health & fitness magazine for women age 20 ? 44.
• Home & Decor: Style leader in home interior sector with 35,000
  readership.
• Young Parents: The best-read parenting magazine for those with kids
  between 0-9 years old. Readership is 16,000.
• Her World Brides: A definitive wedding guide published quarterly.

SPH Magazines also specialises in custom publishing ? producing two of the
highest circulating publications in Singapore.

• NSMan: Published bi-monthly for Safra National Service Association with a
  readership of 164,000.
• ResQ: Published bi-monthly for Civil Defence Association for National
  Servicemen with readership of 132,000.
• Silver Kris: Published monthly with a readership of more than 1.3
  million.
• BizQ: Published bi-monthly for Singapore Business Federation with a
  readership of 90,000.

SPH Magazines is the exclusive marketing representative of two leading
Chinese publications:

• Citta Bella: No.1 Chinese women's magazine in Singapore.
• You-Weekly: Weekly entertainment magazine.