Joan Withers resigns as Fairfax Media NZ chief

Friday 13th March 2009

Joan Withers resigned as head of Fairfax Media's New Zealand operations after almost five years in the job.

Withers will leave on June 30, according to a company statement today. She first took up the role in July 2005.

The publisher of the Dominion Post and Sunday Star-Times last month posted a first-half loss of A$365 million as advertising revenue dwindled and the company wrote down the value of its mastheads and media licenses. Sales rose 0.5% to A$1.45 billion.

The company said trading conditions have weakened and classified advertising is expected to remain weak for the rest of the financial year.

Shares of the Sydney-based company have tumbled 44% in the past 12 months. The stock rose 4.8% to 87 Australian cents on the ASX today.

The company took a A$447.5 million impairment charge against its mastheads, licenses and goodwill.

The departure of Withers comes after senior executive changes at Fairfax. The media company last month named Brian Cassill as chief financial officer, replacing Sankar Narayan.

Former chief executive David Kirk quit in December and his deputy at the time, Brian McCarthy, has been in the role since then.

Businesswire.co.nz

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