Maxim, the men’s magazine, is to cease publication and go online-only after a slump in sales.

At its peak in the second half of 2000 – five years after it launched in 1995 – Maxim sold 328,463 copies a month, according to ABC.

But in the second half of 2008, it sold just 45,951 – 41.4 per cent down year on year.