TORONTO — Postmedia said Thursday it plans to reduce its salary costs by 20 per cent through voluntary staff buyouts, adding that layoffs are possible if that target isn't met as it announced net losses that nearly doubled in its most recent quarter. Staff have until Nov. 8 to apply for the buyouts, the company said, with reductions coming from all levels and operations. The newspaper chain announced the cost-cutting measure as it reported a fourth-quarter loss of $99.4 million or 35 cents per diluted share. That's up from a loss of $54.1 million or 19 cents per diluted share for the same period a year ago.

Newspapers boxes sit outside Postmedia's headquarters in Toronto. (Photo: Globe and Mail via CP) Revenue for the quarter ended Aug. 31 totalled $198.7 million, down from $230.2 million. Postmedia attributed most of the revenue loss to a 21.3 per cent drop in print advertising and eight per cent fall in print circulation. For its full financial year, Postmedia said it lost $352.5 million or $1.25 per share on $877.2 million in revenue. In the previous year, it lost $263.4 million or $1.98 per diluted share on $750.3 million in revenue. "We must accelerate the transformation of our business operations to align our cost structure with our revenue outlook,'' CEO Paul Godfrey told analysts and media in a conference call. Under the buyout plan, employees are eligible to receive three weeks' pay for every year worked, up to a maximum of 78 weeks, said Paul Morse, president of Unifor Local 87-M, which represents some Postmedia employees. The offer is capped at $150,000, he said, and will be paid as a salary continuance, rather than a single payment. "The real problem with Postmedia is its debt." About 4,000 full-time equivalent employees work for Postmedia, said Phyllise Gelfand, the company's vice-president of communications, in an email. That's down from 4,733 as of Aug. 31, 2015, according to company documents. The newspaper industry has struggled with declining ad revenue for years, but 2016 has been particularly brutal for the business. But the president of CWA Canada, a union representing about 6,000 media workers, said Postmedia is using declining print advertising as a scapegoat for the financial problems caused by its large debt. "The real problem with Postmedia is its debt,'' Martin O'Hanlon said in a statement.