Paul Godfrey is stepping down as Chief Executive Officer of newspaper publisher Postmedia Network Canada Corp. amid mounting financial losses.
Andrew MacLeod, who has been Mr. Godfrey's second in command since 2016, will become Postmedia's new Chief Executive Officer, the company announced. Mr. Godfrey will remain Executive Chairman of the company, which publishes the National Post and other newspapers across Canada.
The executive changes come as Postmedia announced a $1.4 million net loss for the quarter ended November 30, 2018. Revenue for the Toronto-based publishing group fell to $171.3 million, down 9.4% from $189 million a year earlier, when Postmedia reported a profit of $5.8 million.
Mr. MacLeod said Postmedia's two-pronged strategy is to extend the life of its legacy newspaper business while working to grow revenue from digital initiatives. Figures released Thursday showed that Postmedia's expenses from all major expense categories declined including compensation, which fell 12% to $58.3 million in the quarter.
Most of Canada's conventional advertising-funded media — including print, radio and television — have seen a multi-year decline in revenue under intense competition from Internet-based media companies. One bright spot for Postmedia was an increase in revenue from digital publications, which rose 4.5% to $32.7 million in the quarter.
