Playboy is struggling to keep its clothes on

In the wake of the recession, Playboy bosses are coming up with new strategies to keep the soft-porn enterprise's position stable in the market.

Interim chairman Jerome Kern said Playboy Enterprises is willing to listen to sale offers. Kern was named non-executive chairman after Christie Hefner resigned in December, ending two decades of running the nudie-pic business empire her father, Hugh, started in 1953.

Hugh Hefner still keeps an eye on every aspect of Playboy magazine as the top editor, from the  lengthy articles to the jokes page, cartoons, and the air-brushing of the nude layouts.

But the company has retained a search firm to find a new chief executive officer.

Last month, Playboy said it would cut jobs, consolidate online and print operations, and take a write-down as the company struggles with a declining audience in a poor economy.

The company slashed 14% of its workforce last year.

"The results of our (cost-cutting) efforts to date should be meaningful, but in the face of current economic conditions, it is clear that our streamlining initiatives need to continue," the New York Daily News quoted Kern as saying.

Playboy said it expects to face additional setbacks this year, including a non-cash impairment charge of about $5 million in the first quarter.

In the first half of 2009, Playboy expects to incur a charge of about $9 million relating to the closing of its Manhattan office.

The Chicago-based company posted a quarterly loss of $145.7 million, hurt by $157.2 million in restructuring and other one-time costs.

Revenues declined to $69.8 million from $85.9 million a year ago. It had a net loss in each quarter of last year.

In its licensing unit, which is responsible for placing the company's bunny ears logo on everything from T-shirts to diamond pendants, income declined 38% to $4.3 million.