The publisher has entered a 30-day period of consultation with staff at the title, which was relaunched just weeks after it made its initial debut and Bauer was forced to issue media agencies with a "money-back guarantee" in an attempt to persuade them to take ads in the weekly.
The publisher had been promising media agencies that Cut would deliver a settle-down circulation of 100,000 or they will receive a refund. Cut is believed to be selling just 10% of an estimated 700,000 print run.
David Goodchild, managing director of H Bauer, said: "We currently have no comment to make on the future of Cut. The due process of consultation is an internal matter for discussion and only when a conclusion is reached will there be further comment from the company."
Bauer hoped that the redesign in late October would be enough to reverse the fortunes of the magazine, which hit newsstands on August 17.
Cut was initially seen as a competitor to new men's weeklies, IPC's Nuts and Emap's Zoo, but is believed not to have reached anywhere near their circulation success. The latest ABC figures, for January-June 2004, give Nuts a circulation of 288,676 and Zoo 197,165.
If Cut closes, it will be a reversal of fortune for the German publisher, which has enjoyed big successes with previous launches in the women's market with titles such as Take a Break and TV Choice.
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