Fairfax CEO David Kirk resigns, shares jump 6pc
Big news from The Australian:
FAIRFAX Media has announced the resignation of chief executive David Kirk after more than three years.
Mr Kirk’s resignation, which is effective immediately, is expected to see former Rural Press chief executive Brian McCarthy elevated to the CEO’s role.
Fairfax Media shares jumped 6 percent on the Australian sharemarket immediately after the announcement was released to the stock exchange.
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Mr McCarthy joined Fairfax, publisher of The Australian Financial Review and The Sydney Morning Herald, following the merger of Rural Press and Fairfax two years ago – a move driven by Mr Kirk.
However, there is believed to have been a power struggle between the two men, with Mr McCarthy backed by Fairfax’s 14 per cent shareholder John B Fairfax.
Since the merger, Mr McCarthy has been the CEO of Fairfax’s Australian operations.
Mr McCarthy is also seen as an aggressive cost-cutter after his efficient management of the Rural Press operations.
Fairfax’s board is believed to have been split between supporting Mr Kirk – a former New Zealand All Black rugby captain – or Mr McCarthy.
Chairman Ron Walker today praised Mr Kirk’s contribution to Fairfax.
“He and his team have led the complete re-positioning of the company from a metropolitan newspaper publishing business to a position in which the company is now clearly the leading media company in Australia,” he said.
The resignation follows weeks of turmoil at Fairfax.
The Sydney Morning Herald’s editor, Alan Oakley, yesterday became the fourth editor of a major Australian metropolitan newspaper to depart his job in as many months.
The editors of Fairfax’s two flagship broadsheets have now been removed from their posts.
Mr Oakley’s removal came just three months after Andrew Jaspan was unceremoniously dumped as editor-in-chief of The Age in Melbourne and replaced with his deputy.
The departure of Mr Oakley after just over three years as editor came on a day of wild internal speculation at Fairfax, which has recently been plagued by a tumbling share price that has seen it trading at or near all-time lows and a turbulent round of job cuts.
In August, the company announced 550 staff cuts, including 165 editorial jobs, at the Herald, The Age and New Zealand newspapers.
Mr Kirk has faced pressure over the media group’s flagging share price, which last week fell below the Herald’s cover price of $1.30. The shares rebounded but yesterday closed at $1.49, down 1c. The Herald’s circulation has also been in decline, with the most recent figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulation showing drops for both the weekday and Saturday editions of the paper.
