Brendan Hopkins to leave APN News & Media

Brendan Hopkins, the chief executive of APN News & Media, the Australian and New Zealand media business in which Independent News & Media has a 32% stake, is to leave the company. Hopkins, who will leave APN at the end of the year, has been chief executive of the media business for the past eight years. The company, whose properties include the New Zealand Herald newspaper, radio stations and an outdoor advertising operation, saw profits fall by more than a third last year as the recession took its toll . APN, which in February said that 2010 had "started more positively", has appointed executive search company Heidrick & Struggles to search for a replacement. • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email [email protected] or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. • If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".