TORONTO - The company that publishes the National Post and other major Canadian newspapers says the acquisition of Sun Media boosted its revenues and helped to trim its operating loss in its fiscal fourth quarter, but not enough to offset the impact of a weaker Canadian dollar.

Postmedia Network Canada Corp. says it had a $54.1 million net loss in the three months that ended Aug. 31, compared with $49.8 million in the fourth quarter of its 2014 financial year.

The increase was related to non-cash losses on financial derivatives and currency exchange, both related to the value of Postmedia's U.S.-dollar denominated debt.

The company — which owns many of the former Southam papers including the Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette and Calgary Herald — said its operating loss was $5.7 million, down 80 per cent from $28.1 million a year earlier.

Revenue for the quarter was $230.2 million, including $96.4 million from the Sun Group. Excluding the Sun Group, revenues would have been down $13 million or 8.8 per cent, mainly due to weak advertising.

For the full 2015 financial year ended Aug. 31, Postmedia had a $263.4 million loss — compared with a $107.5-million loss in fiscal 2014. Annual revenue was $750.3 million, up from $674.3 million in 2014. Excluding the Sun acquisition, Postmedia's revenue would have been down $77.6 million or 11.5 per cent.

President and chief executive Paul Godfrey said it was a year of transformation for the company as it integrates Sun Media and begins to cut $50 million of costs by the end of 2017, including $14 million realized in the quarter.

"We cannot take our foot off the gas with respect to cost savings and we'll continue to undertake initiatives that best reflect our current business climate," he said during a conference call.

He said the newspaper industry remains under pressure with a cost structure of a "bygone era."

The advertising environment remains challenging but the rate of decline improved during the quarter. Excluding Sun Media, advertising revenues decreased 8.8 per cent, compared to a 12.2 per cent decline in the first nine months of the year.

The financial report came out a day after Postmedia published the final digital editions of the Calgary Herald, Ottawa Citizen and Montreal Gazette.

"They're beautiful products and we're incredibly proud of how they look, but they didn't reach a critical mass of audience or advertisers," Postmedia spokeswoman Phyllise Gelfand said Wednesday in an interview.

Tablet readers will be redirected to Postmedia's news app, which was recently revamped. The updated version works on both smartphones and tablets.

Postmedia launched its first digital evening edition in May 2014 at the Citizen before expanding the project to other markets.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2015