Sotheby's Asia Chief Executive Officer Kevin Ching said the company won't be cutting staff in the region.

The New York-based auctioneer, with about 1,500 hires worldwide, has 120 employees in Asia-Pacific, 80 of whom are in Hong Kong, where it occupies half the floor of an office block near the business district. The company also has offices in Melbourne and Sydney. Asia accounts for 8 percent of Sotheby's sales of over $4 billion.

"It has been very, very lean, so we are not cutting anybody," said Ching, 52, in a phone interview.

Sotheby's and rival Christie's International announced staff cuts after art auctions last year fell short of targets as the global financial rout trimmed wealth.

In December, Sotheby's said its executive committee approved a plan to reduce salaries and related costs by $7 million in 2009. After posting a third-quarter loss, Sotheby's said it will take a fourth-quarter charge of $5 million linked to severance pay.

Since mid-December, Sotheby's has fired about 60 employees in the U.S., including Christopher Gaillard, a vice president and head of the contemporary-print unit.

"We will continue to focus on offering quality, not quantity, at our auction," said Ching.

Ching said Sotheby's may auction wines worth $3 million at its Hong Kong sale in April. Wine is one of few categories defying the auction slump in Asia, with more than 80 percent of lots finding buyers at the city's largest sales held by Christie's and Acker Merrall & Condit Co.