If you were impressed by China’s 11.9% GDP growth you’re impressed way too easily. Singapore’s economy expanded by 13.1% over the last year. And the city-state’s leading publisher, Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), was right in the thick of it. Its profits climbed 61.2% in the six months to March 1 2010.

Surprisingly, it was the company’s magazine and newspaper divisions which were responsible for a large part of the profit jump. Revenue from print increased 13.3% from this time last year to S$1654.4 million (US$120.2 million), fuelled by a rebound in print and display ads. Meanwhile, SPH’s property division also performed strongly, rising by S$13 million to S$85.2 million.

SPH dominates its home market to the extent where the company estimates 79% of adult Singaporeans read one or more of its news publications daily. Its local suite of products includes no less than 17 newspapers in four languages (including prestigious daily The Straits Times), more than 100 magazine titles and online brands like AsiaOne and CATS Classified.

The group also has controlling interest in MediaCorp which owns, amongst other things, television channels and radio station; has an 80% stake in SPH Unionworks, another radio station owner; and runs mobile advertising business, ZapCode, which brought Korean company ColorZip Media’s mobile content delivery system into the South-East Asian market.

However, in the past few years SPH has been spreading its wings beyond its island home.

In 2006, it entered into an alliance with Scandinavian publisher Schibsted and launched 701search, aimed at developing online businesses through the Asia Pacific. 701search now owns online marketplaces in Malaysia and The Philippines, including Mudah.my and AyosDito.ph.

In 2008, SPH combined with China’s Fung Choi Publishing to launch 701sou.com, an online directory based in Beijing. It has since sold a 20% stake in the business to Malaysia’s Star Publications for US$5 million but retains a majority shareholding. The move made sense given Star Publications and SPH had already teamed up to launch 701Panduan, a Malaysia-based online directory.

The point is that SPH has proven itself to be one of the region’s most innovative players with a penchant for establishing brands in emerging markets. Now, thanks to a hometown boom, it’s cashed up to the nines.

It’s is a media player we should all be watching over the next little while.