Managing director Peter George told ProPrint that the print giant had too many costs and too much duplication in its operations.

He also gave a "guarantee" to turn that around in 18 months.

He said a major reason he was named to succeed Richard Allely was due to a long history of restructuring that included Optus, Mayne Nickless, Nilex, Asciano and B Digital.

"I've been restructuring companies for many years… Richard was more suited to a company on a strong growth trajectory," he said.

IPMG's outgoing chief executive, Stephen Anstice, recently criticised George for showing a "lack of confidence" in printing and casting the industry "as some sort of victim".

George said the rapidly changing market was a reality and that he would take PMP "back to its core" of print and distribution to help it survive.

[Related: PMP cashes in on Fifty Shades of Grey]

"This is an industry that's in structural change. There's too much capacity chasing too little volume," he said.

"I think restructuring is part of life. The industry will have fewer players in five years than it does now and my job is to make sure PMP is one of them."

George told ProPrint that he couldn't predict how large PMP would be five years from now, but was certain revenue would exceed the $1.1 billion posted in 2011-12.

He also said the company would bounce back from a net loss of $24.5 million and return to profit in 2012-13, thanks in part to asset sales and cost cutting.

George's base salary of $600,000 is 26% less than Allely's $815,000. George said he had taken a pay cut because he couldn't expect "austerity" from his staff if he didn't lead by example.

George also said the market would dictate whether the current transformation plan was the last.

[Related: Ups and downs of PMP]

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