SPH announces pay cuts for directors and senior management

Singapore Press Holdings, which publishes The Straits Times and The Business Times, have announced that its board members will take a voluntary 10% reduction in directors’ fees, and the salary of those in senior management will be cut.

SPH chief executive officer Ng Yat Chung will take a pay cut of 10%, while senior management staff will have their salaries cut by 5%. “The global pandemic has affected our businesses, and posed challenges to our stakeholders,” said Ng. “We have volunteered the pay cuts to better position ourselves to ride out this difficult time with our stakeholders.”

SPH Reit, a Singapore-based real estate investment trust sponsored by SPH, is also introducing pay cuts. CEO Susan Leng will take a pay cut of 10%, while other senior management staff will take pay cuts of 5%. Starting in April, SPH Reit directors will also be taking a 10% cut in fees, which will be reviewed at year end.

“SPH Reit will pass on fully the property tax rebate received from the Singapore government for its Singapore assets to qualifying tenants adversely impacted by COVID-19,” the company said in a statement.

During his unveiling of a S$48 billion “Resilience Budget” to mitigate the economic impact of COVID-19, Heng Swee Keat, Singapore’s deputy prime minister and finance minister, announced that qualifying commercial properties will be exempted from property tax in 2020, while businesses in other non-residential properties will get a rebate of 30%.

SPH Reit aims to finalise the details of the enhanced tenants rebate scheme by April and to proactively engage tenants after that. The company may also consider granting further rental rebates to retail and F&B businesses operating in malls, which are expected to be further hit by measures introduced by the government, such as the closure of bars and entertainment venues till April 30.