SCMP Group interim profit down 62% on SARS

HONG KONG: The SCMP Group, the publisher of Hong Kong's South China Morning Post newspaper, posted yesterday a 62% drop in interim profit on SARS outbreak and warned of an uncertain outlook amid a battered local economy. 

SCMP, controlled by Malaysian tycoon Robert Kuok, said its earnings for the six months ended June 30 fell to HK$33.98mil from a restated HK$90.08mil in the previous year as the outbreak of SARS pounded its core newspaper and magazine businesses.