NEW YORK: The New York Times, confronted with lower circulation and reducing advertising revenues, is planning to cut down on the size of the newspaper and close down its printing operations at Edison, New Jersey. The trimming, expected to go into April 2008, will result in job loss of 250, mostly production-related, and savings of about $42 million.

The paper will have to incur capital spending of $150 million on the changes.

The paper said the pages will be one-and-a-half inches narrower and the plan includes a phased-in redesign.

The group bring outs, besides The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune and The Boston Globe.

The paper’s chief executive Janet Robinson said research has shown that readers, particularly young, prefer smaller-sized papers. Newspapers like The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times have already cut down the size.

The announcement coincided with the reporting of the company’s second quarter results. Net income rose marginally to $61.3 million from $60.8 million in the corresponding previous year quarter. Revenue rose 1.6 per cent to $858.7 million. The paper said increse in newsprint costs and reduced revenue from advertisers in the U.S. Northeast affected the earnings. The results included an after-tax charge of $5.3 million for costs related to a staff reduction program announced in September 2005. The paper has already shed 700 workers over the past year.

The reduction in the size of the pages will mean a loss of 11 per cent of space earmarked for news. The paper intends to add more number of pages to limit the impact to around 5 per cent.

New York Times shares fell 41 cents to $22.78 on the New York Stock Exchange.