Butterworths closes titles acquired from THC

<p>SINGAPORE: Butterworths, the legal publishing division of Reed </p><p>Elsevier, has closed a number of the magazines it acquired last year </p><p>when it bought THC Press, including flagship regional title Asian </p><p>Lawyer. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Other magazines that have been shuttered include regional title </p><p>Corporate Counsel and Singapore titles Straits Lawyer, Human Resources </p><p>and Financial Post. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Michael Evans, Butterworths Asia-Pacific chief executive, said the </p><p>magazines were losing money. "Revenue suffered following the September </p><p>11 terrorist attacks in the US so profitability suffered. We couldn't </p><p>sustain these losses," said Evans. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The company will retain its custom publications - newsletters produced </p><p>mostly for legal societies. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>THC also publishes the Singapore 4As monthly magazine Ad Voice although </p><p>the 4As said its two-year contract has nearly expired and that a new </p><p>publisher would be appointed shortly. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Butterworths acquired THC Press partly because it wanted access to Asian </p><p>Lawyer's readership as Butterworths is in the business of selling books </p><p>to lawyers. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Since the take-over, THC lost some of its top executives. A few left </p><p>early this year to help establish rival company Key Media. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>