PORTLAND — The Portland Newspapers, publisher of the Press Herald, Evening Express and Sunday Telegram, announced on Friday the elimination of 86 positions and the layoffs of 11 full-time workers in a cost-cutting move.

The cuts represent a work force reduction of about 14 percent for the news organization that had 600 full-time equivalent positions in the fall.

About 30 of the jobs eliminated are related to the Feb. 1 merger of the 108-year-old Evening Express, an afternoon newspaper, into the morning Press Herald, the state’s second largest newspaper.

General Manager Steven Braver declined to say whether the newspapers are expected to make money in 1991 even with the cost-cutting measures.

Most of the staff reductions will take place by keeping some vacant positions open and by implementing early retirement and severance buyout plans. Nearly 60 workers opted for either the buyout or retirement programs, Braver said.

The Portland Newspapers, a division of Guy Gannett Publishing Co. of Portland, has experienced declining advertising revenue since 1989. Advertising lineage through October was down 16 percent, the company said.