The speculation comes after an article in The Sunday Times (2 August) claimed that members of the Scott Trust, which owns GMG, had discussed plans to replace the world's oldest Sunday newspaper with an Observer-branded magazine,.
GMG said it did not wish to officially comment on the speculation. However The Times this week claimed to have seen an email from chief exectutive McCall in response to the rumours. According to The Times, McCall admitted that the future of The Observer was being considered.
PrintWeek has also seen a copy of the email, in which McCall said to staff: "You may have read coverage today and over the weekend about the future of The Observer, alongside reporting of GMG's annual results.
"We should not be surprised when commercial rivals seek to damage us, fail to give the full picture or speculate about our future."
McCall did not go into detail about the future of The Observer specifically, but she referenced a three-year plan that the company is currently developing in order to ensure "the long-term future of The Guardian".
She said: "When the economy recovers, so – to a degree – will our advertising revenues. However, due to structural change, these revenues will not be at the levels they were in the past. Guardian News and Media’s (GNM) costs will need to reflect this if losses are to be kept within sustainable limits. This inevitably means we will be a smaller organisation."
McCall added that the work towards the three-year plan would examine "every aspect of GNM's publishing strategy and titles: The Guardian, Observer and guardian.co.uk; print and digital".
She said that GNM was "in better shape than most" media companies in the current financial climate. She drew attention the company's balance sheet, which she claimed is in a strong cash position.
"These are our savings," she said. "And we will be using them over the next few years."
GNM did not wish to comment on the future of The Observer, the leaked email or The Sunday Times article. A spokesman said: "We wouldn't comment on speculation on the future of our newspapers and the private business of the Scott Trust."
