SINGAPORE Press Holdings (SPH) on Thursday morning called for a halt in the trading of its shares pending the release of an announcement. The halt was called at 7.37am, before the market opened.

In a media advisory, the company said it will be announcing a "significant corporate development" today.

SPH, which publishes The Business Times, announced on March 30 that it was undergoing a strategic review to consider options for its various businesses. This came as the group posted a 26.1 per cent increase in net profit to S$97.9 million for the half year ended Feb 28, due to improvements in its non-media business segments. 

The group noted in its H1 results release that the media business continues to be affected by the structural decline in the print advertisement sector, which was exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

SPH shares closed S$0.02 or 1.1 per cent lower at S$1.79 on Wednesday.