It was confirmed this week by the new owners of Asian Xpress newspaper that it would be not be published for the foreseeable future. The paper’s low circulation and ad revenue were said to be acting as a drain on resources.

The decision follows the purchase of Smart Asian Media’s titles and assets by the newly formed Asian Interactive Media (AIM) plc. The company now owns the Asian Xpress, Asian Woman, Asian Bride and Asian Fashion newspaper and magazine titles.

Speaking to Asians in Media, Masharaf Ali, one of the company directors, confirmed that Asian Xpress hadn’t been distributed for the last few weeks. "It wasn’t our biggest brand really. The magazine kept it alive", he said.

Public sector job advertising are seen as the life-blood of Asian titles, a revenue stream that Asian Xpress had always been unable to tap into. Despite good brand recognition it suffered from low sales figures. Some newsagents we spoke to recently said they'd stopped delivery of the paper due to low sales.

Part of the problem is that it never managed to sufficiently differentiate itself from the main competitor - Eastern Eye. Other titles such as Asian Voice and the Asian Post have survived by focusing on specific regional communities (Hindu Gujarati and Pakistani community respectively) and sharing content (Gujarat Samachar and Pakistan Post).

Mark Dyer, one of the directors at AIM plc, stressed however that the decision to stop publishing wasn’t a permanent one. For now the company is determined to focus on the magazine titles and keep them published on schedule.

He said the new company was well financed, and was planning to commit sufficient funds for investment and promotion into Asian Xpress in the near future.