KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 30 — Malay Mail Online registered a sharp increase in readership in July and broke into the top five of the most-read English news portals in Malaysia, according to data from media measurement and analytics company comScore Inc.

The monthly ranking, which tracks web activity at top online entities in Malaysia, counted some 550,000 unique visitors to themalaymailonline.com over the month of July, a 12.7-per cent hike from the 488,000 unique visitors registered in May. The figures do not include mobile and overseas readership, which is significantly higher.

“The figures are very encouraging, especially since we are the only news portal at the moment that provides content that is almost exclusively in English,” said Leslie Lau, executive editor of Malay Mail Online.

Comparatively, other news sites listed, including more established names such as Malaysiakini and The Star, also include readership from their Malay sections as well as a Chinese-language edition in Malaysiakini’s case, Lau added.

The growing reach of Malay Mail Online — which officially launched in late June 2013 — also helped it rise into comScore’s top-30 overall ranking, coming in at 19th place and just behind websites run by corporate giants such as Maybank, CIMB Bank and AirAsia.

“Malay Mail Online was launched two years ago as a major investment by our owners in the digital reach of the Malay Mail media brand and, together with our sister print edition and its electronic editions, is now a significant player in the Malaysian media scene,” said Lau.

He added that Malay Mail Online will also launch a Bahasa Malaysia section next month that will significantly increase the brand’s reach and readership.

Leading the pack in Malaysia’s top-30 most visited websites is Maybank’s online banking portal, maybank2u.com.my, which drew some 3.1 million unique visitors, followed by online digital marketplace mudah.my with around 1.7 million unique visitors for the month of July.

Rounding off the top-three is cimbclicks.com.my, CIMB Bank’s online banking portal, with an estimated 1.6 million unique visitors using the site.

Malay Mail Online is an independent online newspaper that covers the news of the day, whether it is in the field of politics or lifestyle.

Positioning itself as a source of news that is balanced and non-partisan, Malay Mail Online also provides broad access to commentaries and analyses on various issues aimed at helping readers gain a sense of news in Malaysia and around the world.