HK tabloid shuts with plans for another revamp

<p>HONG KONG: Sing Tao Holdings is repositioning the iMail to focus on </p><p>business, a year after the English-language tabloid replaced the Hong </p><p>Kong Standard. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Sing Tao, which bought the tabloid from investment bank Lazard Feres, </p><p>laid off 100 staff across the group, including editor Andrew Lynch and </p><p>sales and marketing director Michael Denmark. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Sources said Sing Tao was restructuring to maximise earnings from </p><p>iMail's legal notices advertising before it expires next year. The </p><p>restructuring was aimed at maximising resources across the group </p><p>including merging the sales functions under new group sales director </p><p>Yolanda Lo. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>New editor Timothy Jim said: "If we don't do this now we'll find </p><p>ourselves in a more difficult situation next year." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Media agencies were surprised by iMail's sudden closure, saying the </p><p>tabloid should have been given another year. However others like Dominic </p><p>Ng, CIA Hong Kong director, added: "I don't think it did enough to </p><p>differentiate itself." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The sweeping changes were preceded by the rollout of a multi-million </p><p>dollar campaign for the Daily by McCann-Erickson. A group spokesman </p><p>said: "Its positioning is different because we have comprehensive news </p><p>coverage, providing any information people are looking for." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>- Additional reporting by Christy Liu. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>