Some 500 jobs at Sanoma Nederland are to be cut as the Finnish media group overhauls its Dutch operations and focuses on just 17 magazine titles.

The Dutch versions of Playboy and Marie Claire, and current affairs magazines Panorama and Nieuwe Revu are among the 32 titles which will be sold off, merged with other titles or closed down altogether.

Magazine publishing has been hit by falling subscription numbers and a downturn in advertising as the public shifts to online media.

Five key areas

Sanoma executives told staff on Thursday morning the company is to focus on 17 magazines in five key areas: women, parenting, children, home decoration and cars. The saved titles include Linda, Libelle, Viva, Donald Duck and Autoweek.

Sanoma Nederland currently has a workforce of 1,600, meaning almost one in three jobs are being cut. The company also owns websites nu.nl and startpagina.nl plus broadcasters Net5, Veronica and SBS6.

The Sanomal group booked operating profit of €232m on turnover of €2.4bn last year. The Dutch operation turned over €760m.