Singapore, 5 June 2007 - Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), Singapore Exchange (SGX) and FTSE Group today signed a Cooperation Agreement to develop a new set of indices for Singapore. This comprises a revamped Straits Times Index (STI) as the Singapore stock market’s main benchmark and a family of 18 new indices called the FTSE ST indices that will complement the STI.

The aim of the collaboration is to create a comprehensive suite of indices* that will better reflect the performance of various sectors of the Singapore stock market and meet the needs of both retail and institutional investors globally.
(* Please refer to Appendix 1 for full list of indices)

The STI, which has been synonymous with the Singapore stock market for the past 40 years, will be revamped with the aim of ensuring that it continues to be the market´s key barometer for both local and international investors. There will be no change to its name or its numerical values.

The STI will undergo two main changes:

(1) The number of constituent stocks will be reduced from 50 to 30. This will make the STI a highly liquid index. The reduction in constituent stocks will not significantly alter the representativeness of the index, given that it is value-weighted. In fact, the last 20 stocks of the current STI represent only about 10 per cent of the index by market capitalisation.

(2) The STI will be calculated by FTSE according to its internationally recognised methodology for liquidity criteria and free-float adjustment. The index’s constituents will also be reviewed by the three parties at regular intervals.

The new indices, by tracking the different sectors of the Singapore market, will help investors make better-informed investment decisions. The new indices will adopt FTSE´s international methodology and will be based on the International Classification Benchmark (ICB), the globally renowned classification system. The use of the ICB will facilitate cross-border analysis and comparisons.

Following the signing of the Cooperation Agreement, the three parties will commence the detailed work to construct the various indices. It is the intention of the parties to launch the indices by the end of the year. Adequate advance notice of the detailed STI changes and the new indices will be given to market participants.

Mr Alan Chan, Chief Executive Officer of SPH, said: "We are pleased that our partnership with SGX and FTSE will secure the position of the Straits Times Index as the market’s main benchmark index and also will create a wider range of investable opportunities in the Singapore market.”

Mr Hsieh Fu Hua, Chief Executive Officer of SGX, said: “The introduction of Singapore indices using globally recognised and accepted methodology will ensure that we fulfill the investment and benchmarking needs of international investors. This will also facilitate the creation of index-linked products thereby offering greater investment options in our marketplace.”

Commenting on the collaboration, Mr Donald Keith, Deputy Chief Executive of FTSE Group, said: “FTSE is proud to be selected as index partner by SGX and SPH and to collaborate with both organisations to create a new index family for the Singapore market. Domestic and international investors recognise and understand the FTSE hallmark of design excellence. We expect the series will be used as the basis of new investment products.”

Please refer to the web sites of FTSE (www.ftse.com/ftse_st_index_series) and SPH (www.straitstimes.com/stindex) for more details of the new set of FTSE ST indices.


Jointly issued by:
Singapore Press Holdings Limited
Co. Regn. No: 198402868E

Singapore Exchange Limited
Co. Regn. No: 199904940D

FTSE International Limited
Co. Regn. No: 03108236

Media contacts:

SPH
Chin Soo Fang
Corporate Communications
DID: +65 6319 1216
Email: soofang@sph.com.sg

SGX Joan Lew Corporate Communications Tel: +65 6236 8658 Email: joan@sgx.com

Magdalyn Liew Corporate Communications Tel: +65 6236 8157 Email: magdalynliew@sgx.com

FTSE
Hong Kong Meredith Blakemore +852 2230 5801
London Sandra Steel +44 207 866 1821
Email: media@ftse.com


About Singapore Press Holdings Ltd
Newspapers and Magazines: Main board-listed Singapore Press Holdings Ltd (SPH) is the leading media company in Singapore, delivering news and information through print, Internet and broadcasting platforms. In Singapore, it publishes 14 newspapers in four languages. Every day, 2.7 million individuals or 83 per cent of people above 15 years old, read one of SPH’s news publications. SPH also publishes over 90 magazine titles in Singapore and the region, covering a broad range of interests from lifestyle to information technology.

Internet and Mobile: Beyond print, the Internet editions of SPH newspapers enjoy over 100 million pageviews with 6 million unique visitors every month. SPH’s online and new media initiatives include a revolutionary mobile advertising and information service, ZapCode; recruitment and job search service, ST701; and STOMP, a portal that connects, engages and interacts with readers on the Web and via mobile phone messaging.

Broadcasting: SPH has a 20 percent stake in MediaCorp TV Holdings Pte Ltd, which operates free-to-air channels 5, 8, U and TV Mobile, and a 40 percent stake in MediaCorp Press Pte Ltd, which publishes the free newspaper, Today. In the radio business, SPH has a 80 percent stake in SPH UnionWorks Pte Ltd, which operates entertainment stations Radio 100.3 in Mandarin and Radio 91.3 in English.

Outdoor Advertising: In addition, SPH has ventured into outdoor advertising through its wholly-owned subsidiary, SPH MediaBoxOffice Pte Ltd, Singapore’s largest outdoor motion display advertising network media company, and a 35 percent stake in TOM Outdoor Media Group, a leading outdoor advertising company in China.

Properties: SPH owns and manages Paragon, the prime retail and office complex in the heart of Orchard Road, Singapore’s main shopping belt. SPH’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Times Development Pte Ltd, is also developing a 43-storey upmarket residential condominium, Sky@eleven, at Thomson Road.



About Singapore Exchange Limited
Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX) is Asia-Pacific´s first demutualised and integrated securities and derivatives exchange.

SGX was inaugurated on 1 December 1999, following the merger of two established and well-respected financial institutions – the Stock Exchange of Singapore (SES) and the Singapore International Monetary Exchange (SIMEX).

On 23 November 2000, SGX became the first exchange in Asia-Pacific to be listed via a public offer and a private placement. Listed on its own bourse, the SGX stock is a component of benchmark indices such as the MSCI Singapore Free Index and the Straits Times Index.

For more information, please visit SGX website: www.sgx.com.

About FTSE Group

FTSE Group is a world-leader in the creation and management of indexes. With offices in Beijing, London, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Madrid, Paris, New York, San Francisco, Boston, Shanghai and Tokyo, FTSE Group services clients in 77 countries worldwide. It calculates and manages the FTSE Global Equity Index Series, which includes world-recognized indexes ranging from the FTSE All-World Index, the FTSE4Good series and the FTSEurofirst Index series, as well as domestic indexes such as the prestigious FTSE 100. The company has collaborative arrangements with the Athens, AMEX, Cyprus, Euronext, Johannesburg, London, Madrid, NASDAQ and Taiwan exchanges, as well as Nomura Securities and Xinhua Finance of China. FTSE also has a collaborative agreement with Dow Jones Indexes to develop a single sector classification system for global investors.

FTSE indexes are used extensively by investors world-wide for investment analysis, performance measurement, asset allocation, portfolio hedging and for creating a wide range of index tracking funds. Independent committees of senior fund managers, derivatives experts, actuaries and other experienced practitioners review all changes to the indexes to ensure that they are made objectively and without bias. Real-time FTSE indexes are calculated on systems managed by Reuters. Prices and FX rates used are supplied by Reuters.


Appendix 1
1. The revamped Straits Times Index - comprising the top 30 mainboard listed companies selected by full market capitalization. The STI will be complemented by a new family of 18 FTSE ST indices.


FTSE ST Benchmark Indices
1. FTSE ST Mid Cap Index - comprising the next 50 main board listed companies by full market capitalisation;

2. FTSE ST Small Cap Index - comprising the remaining companies within the top 98 per cent by full market capitalisation of the main board universe;

3. FTSE ST All Share Index - comprising all companies within the top 98 per cent by full market capitalisation of the main board universe (i.e. large cap, mid cap and small cap indices combined);

4. FTSE ST Fledgling Index - All companies that are too small to be included within the FTSE ST All Share Index.


Sector Indices
Companies within the FTSE ST All Share Index will be classified by:
1. FTSE ST Oil and Gas Sector Index
2. FTSE ST Basic Materials Sector Index
3. FTSE ST Industrials Sector Index
4. FTSE ST Consumer Goods Sector Index
5. FTSE ST Healthcare Sector Index
6. FTSE ST Consumer Services Sector Index
7. FTSE ST Telecommunications Sector Index
8. FTSE ST Utilities Index
9. FTSE ST Financials Sector Index
10. FTSE ST Technology Sector index
11. FTSE ST Real Estate Index
12. FTSE ST Real Estate Holding and Development
13. FTSE ST Real Estate Investment Trusts


Theme Index
1. FTSE ST China Index