Richard Zannino, the chief executive of Dow Jones, prepared the way yesterday for job cuts at the company after its $5.2bn acquisition by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

In a letter to employees of Dow Jones, publisher of the Wall Street Journal, Mr Zannino said the main goal of News Corp's $5bn acquisition was to "increase profits by strengthening and growing our products and brands, not by slashing costs".