SYDNEY (AFP) - Global media giant News Corp announced that it will spend 600 million pounds (1.03 billion dollars) over the next five years on new printing plants for its newspapers in Britain.
News Corp said the upgrade would mean job losses at its British operation, News International, but would enable color printing of every page of such newspapers as The Times, The Sun and the News of the World.
Under the plan, News International will buy 22 new printing presses from MAN Roland and build new production plants in Enfield, north London, Glasgow, and Knowsley, close to Liverpool.
News Corp chairman and chief executive Rupert Murdoch said the investment plan highlighted that the group, which owns television and entertainment companies worldwide, remained committed to its newspaper businesses.
"This exciting new project demonstrates again our absolute commitment to the future of print," Murdoch said in a statement.
News International is Britain's leading national newspaper publisher.
News International executive chairman Les Hinton said the state-of-the-art printing presses would ensure the company held onto its leading position in the industry, although he acknowledged some jobs would be lost.
"The new presses will provide colour on every page, bringing advantages to both advertisers and editorial," Hinton said.
"This is a long-range project taking more than four years to complete. Over this period inevitably there will be job changes and losses as the new automated technology comes on line," he said.
Hinton said there would be no impact on jobs for at least two years and that staff reductions after that would be achieved through voluntary redundancy when possible.
Announcement of the major investment in Britain came as News Corp pursued controversial plans to re-incorporate from Australia to the US state of Delaware.
The move must be approved by shareholders at a meeting scheduled for October 26.