Fairfax CEO says no plans for more job cuts

MELBOURNE - John Fairfax Holdings Ltd's new chief executive, David Kirk, says the company has no plans for further job cuts but cannot rule them out entirely.

Australia's second largest publisher is seeking to axe about 55 positions through redundancies at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Sun Herald.

"We have reserved the right to go further, but we hope that's not going to be the case," Mr Kirk told the Nine Network.

"We can't give any ongoing commitments about what the right staff level is over time but there are no other plans to date."

Mr Kirk said all businesses, including media businesses, had to make changes according to changes in business cycles and costs and align them with revenue.

Mr Kirk said the advertising market had moderated compared to a boom 12 months ago, particularly in the employment and real estate sectors in New South Wales.

Advertising for the Christmas period had started very late this year.

"But we do start to see now some signs that all the advertising programs that you would expect of a normal Christmas are coming through," Mr Kirk said.