Postmedia Network, the troubled Canadian newspaper publisher, has announced a new round of staff costs after reporting a severe quarterly loss.
It is seeking to reduce salary costs by 20% through voluntary redundancies. If its target isn’t met, mandatory redundancies are possible.
In January, Postmedia cut 90 jobs and merged newsrooms in four cities. In July, the company announced a restructuring plan to reduce its heavy debt burden.
The fourth-quarter loss totalled $99.4m (£61.3m) compared with a loss of $54m (£33.3m) in the same period a year ago. Revenue for the quarter, which ended on 21 August, was $198.7m (£122.5m), down from $230.2m (£142m). Postmedia’s digital revenue rose by 0.8%.
Over the full 12 months, the company said it lost $352.5m (£217.4m). That compared with a loss of $263.4m (£162.4m) in the previous year.
Chief executive Paul Godfrey said during a call to analysts: “We must accelerate the transformation of our business operations to align our cost structure with our revenue outlook”.
Postmedia publishes the National Post, Ottawa Citizen, Vancouver Sun, Calgary Herald plus 12 __more dailies and over 40 local weeklies.
Sources: Canadian Press via Globe & Mail/CBC News