Times Co. to shrink pages, cut 250 jobs

NEW YORK -- The New York Times Co. said it will cut 250 jobs and reduce the size of the pages of its flagship newspaper after second-quarter earnings were little changed.

The plans, coming on top of 500 job cuts disclosed in 2005, will help save $42 million a year as the New York publisher struggles to revive advertising growth. The New York Times's newspaper page will shrink to 12 inches wide, from 13.5 inches, and the firm will stop printing at its Edison, N.J., plant.

None of the 250 planned job cuts will occur in the newsroom, spokeswoman Catherine Mathis said. Most will come from the Edison printing plant, with the rest at the Queens plant.

Profit rose less than 1 percent to $61.3 million, or 42 cents a share, from $60.8 million, or 42 cents, a year earlier. Sales rose 1.6 percent, to $858.7 million.

Ad revenue rose 1 percent in the quarter, to $578 million. Advertising at the company's New England Media Group, which includes The Boston Globe and Worcester Telegram & Gazette, dropped 10 percent. Companywide circulation revenue rose 0.6 percent, to $219.7 million. In New England, it fell 7.2 percent.

In a question and answer session yesterday with Wall Street analysts, Janet L. Robinson, chief executive of Times Co., was asked whether the firm would consider selling its New England operations, given the prices received in recent newspaper sales by McClatchy Co. and Knight-Ridder Inc. ``New England continues to be a very strong element in our portfolio," Robinson said.

The shares dropped 51 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $22.67, their lowest closing price since $22.25 on Oct. 14, 1998.

Separately, Times Co. said chief financial officer Leonard Forman, 61, plans to retire next year.