Star Publications (M) Berhad

The Star is an English-language, tabloid-format newspaper in Malaysia. It is

the largest in terms of circulation in Malaysia, according to the Audit Bureau of
Circulations. It has a daily circulation of between 290,000 to 300,000. The Star is a
member of the Asia News Network.
The Star is majority-owned by the Malaysian Chinese Association, the secondlargest party in the ruling Barisan Nasional alliance. Its major competitors are
the New Straits Times and The Sun, both tabloids.
The daily newspaper was first published on 9 September 1971 as a regional
newspaper based in Georgetown, Penang. The STAR went into national circulation on
3 January 1976 when it set up its new office in Kuala Lumpur. In 1978, the newspaper
headquarters was relocated to Kuala Lumpur. The Star continues to expand its wings
over the years. In 1981, it moved its headquarters from Kuala Lumpur to Petaling
Jaya which is also its current premise to accommodate a growing number of staff and
technology devices.
The Star (daily) and Sunday Star are published in five editions two editions
which cover the northern peninsular states of Penang,Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan and
northern Perak, while another two editions cover the rest of the country. As of March
2010, the newspaper has a separate Sarawak edition priced at RM1.20.
There are two main printing plants that publish four editions of The Star on a
daily basis. The northern editions are printed at the StarNorthern Hub in Bayan Lepas,
Penang, while the other two editions are printed at the Star Media Hub in Bukit
Jelutong, Shah Alam,Selangor.
The Star weekday paper is packaged as a 4-in-1 paper, comprising the Main
Paper, StarBiz, Star2 and Star Metro. As usual this newspaper also contains
classifieds.
The Main Paper covers the latest in both local and international news while
StarBiz offers a comprehensive coverage of business developments, market trends,
financial reports and updates in the stock market. Star2 features articles on lifestyle,
entertainment, health, parenting, social etiquette, science, environment, fashion, food,

comics and many more. The content published on the Star Metro varies by edition,
covering news and events in a particular region covered by each edition.
Weekly sections include:

StarBytz (every Tuesday; formerly known as In-Tech): focuses on computers

and information technology

R.AGE (Mondays to Fridays in StarTwo, bumper issue every Wednesday):

features lifestyle and trends for the young

StarEducate (Sundays): features careers, school, exam tips, advice on

furthering education, commentaries by renowned educationists and updates in the
education industry

Star Fit4Life (Sundays): focuses on various aspects of well-being, from

medical research to treatments, fitness trends, diet and nutrition, mental health,
ageing and public health issues, alternative therapy and healing methods

Dots (Sundays): News and articles sourced from international media partners
covering a varied range of topics from politics and society to people. Provides a
deeper insight into thoughts, senses and outlook

The Star BizWeek is a weekly financial magazine published every Saturday

that highlights issues, companies, personalities, developments, and stocks that are
likely to make news in the week ahead

F1F4 is a fortnightly pull-out published on alternate Mondays. It contains

information about Mathematics and Science syllabus for Form One and Form
Four.

Stuff@school is a weekly pullout distributed every Monday to schools that

subscribe to The Star. It features newsy articles, interviews, book reviews and
short stories dedicated to teens.

Star Metro is a pull-out featuring news and events from all of Malaysia and
occasionally, abroad. Star Metro also features theclassifieds.

Groups structure
Subsidiaries / Affiliates
- Red.fm
- Suria.fm
- 98.8
The equity structure
1. Types of shares
Ordinary Shares of RM1000 each
SHARE BUY-BACK
- The Company purchased 70,200 of its own shares during the financial year
ended 31 December 2009, all of which are held as treasury shares and
maintained by the Company. The Company did not purchase any of its
own shares during the financial year ended 31 December 2010.
2. Authorised Capital and Paid up Capital
- CNM Events is a private limited company incorporated on 19 July 2007
and is principally involved in the business as managers, promoters and
organisers of all kinds of events. Its current authorized share capital is
RM100,000.00 comprising 100,000 ordinary shares of RM1.00 each with
an issued and paid-up capital of RM100.00 comprising 100 ordinary
shares of RM1.00 each, held by Dato Adriana Law Song Ting (50%
shareholding) and Dato Yam Fook Poh (50% shareholding), both are
Malaysian citizens who are also sitting on the board of CNM Events.
3. Accounting policies
- FRS 1

First-time Adoption of Financial Reporting

Standards
- FRS 3

Business Combinations

- FRS 127

Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements

- Amendments to FRS 2

Share-based Payments

- Amendments to FRS 5

Non-current Assets Held for Sale and

Discontinued Operations

Utusan Melayu (M) Berhad

Utusan Malaysia (literally translated from Malay to English as the "Malaysian
Courier") (another sister newspaper known as Utusan Melayu published in Jawi
script ceased publication in January 2006) is a Malay language newspaper
in Malaysia. It is the number one selling Malay-language daily in Malaysia.
Utusan Malaysia started publication on 1967, being a romanised version for
Utusan Melayu and daily edition of Mingguan Malaysia.Mingguan Malaysia
published 2 years earlier on 1965.
In 1997, the Group made its entry into the world of multimedia with the
launch of "Utusan Malaysia On-Line", Malaysia's first Online Newspaper in full text
and visuals. The service provided, in collaboration with Telekom Malaysia, enables
pay-subscribers to read exact replicas of the Group's newspapers, includingUtusan
Malaysia. On July 2, 2001, "Utusan Education Portal" (Portal Pendidikan Utusan)
was launched. The free service has received recognition from MIMOS (the
"Malaysian Institute of Microelectronic Systems") as one of the top five education
websites in Malaysia in 2001. Utusan had also won the "IFRA Publish Asia 2003
Award" for the "Best in Print" category on March 20, 2002. It was the first award to
be won by the newspaper at the international level.
Distinctive

for

its

blue masthead as

its logo and trademark, Utusan

Malaysia has over 32 pages of news and current affairs, with regular supplements,
focusing on such diverse topics as entertainment, fashion, music, health, technology,
and politics.It is also the remaining newspaper that published in broadsheet,since
Berita Harian,another main Malay newspaper changed from broadsheet to tabloid in
2008.
According to Audit Bureau of Circulation (figures for West Malaysia
publications for the period ending 31 December 2009), Utusan Malaysias daily
circulation has dropped 21 per cent from 213,445 in 2006 to 169,548 in 2009.
Utusan Malaysia's credibility as a newspaper has come under fire from many
circles for its blatant practice of double standards in its reporting, especially with
regard to politically-related news. Statements by Chief Ministers in Opposition-held
states have been taken out of context, manipulated, or otherwise downright fabricated.
[3]

Of late, Utusan has also stoked racist sentiments with provocative headlines
championing the New Economic Policy and Ketuanan Melayu.
In view of Utusan's extreme racist rhetoric, the former Oppositionled Perak state government staged a boycott against the newspaper, with other
Opposition states following suit. A motion was also set by the Selangor state
government to boycott Utusan while all Selangor state agencies and departments were
told to refrain from buying the newspaper and to stop advertising in the newspaper, in
a move to protest a short story titled "Politik Baru YB J" by columnist Datuk Chamil
Wariya that appeared in the paper and depicted an assassination of a fictional
character that portrayed Teresa Kok. In addition, Teresa Kok has demanded RM100
million in compensation from Utusan Malaysia Chamil and the publication for
defamation, demanding an immediate public retraction by Utusanand an apology to
be published in newspapers of her choice, plus an undertaking that Chamil and Utusan
will not repeat the allegations and comments contained in the article. DAP has also
filed a report against Utusan Malaysia, claiming Chamil was attempting to stir up
public sentiments to carry out political assassination against Kok.
Utusan has also been criticised for publishing very little international news;
the Foreign News section typically consists of only two to three pages out of 50 pages
in total.
In January 2011, the newspaper suspended a journalist, Hata Wahari, president
of the National Union of Journalists, after alleging that Hata had brought the
newspaper into disrepute and "insulted" its management.
The widely-perceived view that Utusan Malaysia is nothing more than a propaganda
newsletter for the ruling government has been given much greater credence after its
deputy chief editor Zaini Hassan openly stated in a forum organised by the National
Civics Bureau that it was acceptable for Utusan to "spin facts" to be "biased in our
[the BN Government's] favour". The Malaysiakini reporter covering the forum was
later barred from attending.

Groups structure
Subsidiaries / Affiliates
- Utusan Publications & Distributors Sdn Bhd
- Utusan Karya Sdn Bhd
- Utusan Media Sales Sdn Bhd
- Perfisio Solutions Sdn Bhd
- Utusan Sight & Sound Sdn Bhd
- Utusan Airtime Sdn Bhd
The equity structure
1.

Types of shares

- Ordinary Shares of RM1000 each

2.

Authorised Capital and Paid up Capital

- Paid-up capital of RM3 million and an authorized capital of RM5 million

Accounting Policies
- FRS 7 Financial Instruments: Disclosures
- FRS 8 Operating Segments
- FRS 101 Presentation of Financial Statements (Revised)
- FRS 123 Borrowing Costs
- FRS 139 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement
My opinion, the results of the operations of the group and of the company during the
financial year were not affected by any item, transaction or event of a material and
unusual nature other than the effects arising from the changes in accounting policies
due to the adoption of FRS 139 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement
which has resulted in a decrease in the Groups and the Companys profit net of tax by
RM3,332,092 and RM2,137,553. Utusan Melayu (M) Berhad have used appropriate
accounting policies and are consistently applied.