By Wojtek Dabrowski
The company has also put in place a hiring freeze, reduced capital investments and is implementing other measures such as unpaid leave and reduced work weeks to cut costs.
All told, the actions should reduce costs by about C$75 million ($60 million) annualized, it said.
On its website, the company says it had 15,000 employees in 2008. Montreal-based Transcontinental bills itself as the biggest printer in Canada and the sixth-largest in North America.
It had revenue of about C$2.4 billion in 2008.
"In recent weeks the rapid deterioration of the economy has reduced the communication and marketing investments of a number of Transcontinental's customers, significantly affecting some of the corporation's business niches," the company said.
In November, the company announced it would consolidate the operations of its U.S. subsidiary. That move, combined with a company-wide review of production capacity, closure of plants and the termination of "some publications" has led to the job cuts, it said.
Transcontinental, which also publishes consumer magazines and community newspapers, did not specify which publications were being shut.
Its class A shares were down 38 Canadian cents, or 4.2 percent, at C$8.61 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Wednesday shortly after the cuts were announced.
($1=$1.26 Canadian)
(Reporting by Wojtek Dabrowski; editing by Peter Galloway)
TORONTO (Reuters)
The company has also put in place a hiring freeze, reduced capital investments and is implementing other measures such as unpaid leave and reduced work weeks to cut costs.
All told, the actions should reduce costs by about C$75 million ($60 million) annualized, it said.
On its website, the company says it had 15,000 employees in 2008. Montreal-based Transcontinental bills itself as the biggest printer in Canada and the sixth-largest in North America.
It had revenue of about C$2.4 billion in 2008.
"In recent weeks the rapid deterioration of the economy has reduced the communication and marketing investments of a number of Transcontinental's customers, significantly affecting some of the corporation's business niches," the company said.
In November, the company announced it would consolidate the operations of its U.S. subsidiary. That move, combined with a company-wide review of production capacity, closure of plants and the termination of "some publications" has led to the job cuts, it said.
Transcontinental, which also publishes consumer magazines and community newspapers, did not specify which publications were being shut.
Its class A shares were down 38 Canadian cents, or 4.2 percent, at C$8.61 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Wednesday shortly after the cuts were announced.
($1=$1.26 Canadian)
(Reporting by Wojtek Dabrowski; editing by Peter Galloway)
TORONTO (Reuters)
