Australia’s Fairfax commits to newspapers

Chairman Roger Corbett ruled out breaking up the firm’s assets — which include esteemed mastheads The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, along with radio and digital interests — but said all options were being considered.

‘We are acutely aware of shareholder anxiety over the state of the Fairfax Media share price,’ Corbett told their annual general meeting in Melbourne.

‘However... everyone at Fairfax is working to make sure the cost base of the business better suits the global media environment we now face.’

Fairfax said while 2012 had been difficult, it had a clear strategy to deal with severe structural changes as the shift from print to digital gathers pace.

‘Let’s not kid ourselves. There are challenges ahead,’ chief executive Greg Hywood said, adding the company was preparing for the time when metropolitan newspapers could become unprofitable and move to a digital-only model.

‘We will not hide behind a cloak of denial,’ Hywood said.

But he added that although The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age’s futures were predominantly digital, ‘while there is cash flow to be generated from a print business, we’ll still be there’.

‘Let me reiterate: we will produce papers for so long as there is a profitable demand for them,’ he said.

Shares in Fairfax dropped to a record low of 36 cents last week, but spiked to close at 41 cents after the meeting in which Corbett said restructuring had found annual savings of at least Aus$235 million (US$242 million).

Corbett also said the board could not accommodate mining tycoon and major shareholder Gina Rinehart’s request for two seats on the firm’s board.

The world’s richest woman shook up the company earlier this year when she significantly boosted her holdings in a series of share raids, triggering speculation she was trying to increase her public influence.

‘We welcome very much her 14-plus percent holding in this company,’ Corbett said, adding the board would like to accommodate her.

‘But arriving at this position the board needs to have regard for the rights, benefits and interests of shareholders.’

Rinehart, who has been strongly critical of Corbett and demanded he resign if he cannot reverse the company’s fortunes, was not present at the meeting but voted against the company’s remuneration report on executive pay packets.

Her vote was not enough to block the report, but Corbett agreed after a question from a shareholder activist to cut his annual fee by about 10 percent to Aus$400,000.