The company confirmed to ProPrint that chief executive Brian McCarthy had held discussions with media executives about sharing costs of print and distribution.

However, the barrier is said to be the issue of printing slots – specifically who would get the last slot and hence the latest deadline.

Today’s Australian Financial Review, published by Fairfax, reported that the media company had held “casual discussions” with News Ltd four years ago about sharing facilities but the talks “did not lead anywhere”.

McCarthy said that he had since “pursued” the idea with other publishers. “There’s an opportunity for the industry to work together in areas such as distribution,” he added.

“It’s a missed opportunity, one we need to grasp in the future. There are many things publishers could do together, although there are no firm plans at this stage.”

Printing revenues were hard hit when Fairfax reported its half-year results in February, with net revenue down $10.5m/19.5% year-on-year.

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