BERTRANGE, Luxembourg, Sept. 29, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Metro International S.A. ("Metro"), the international newspaper group, today announced that it has signed a five-year US$ 75 million revolving credit facility agreement.
The multi-currency facility has been arranged by Nordea, and is provided by a syndicate of lenders comprising Nordea (US$ 45 million), Handelsbanken (US$ 15 million) and Calyon Bank (US$ 15 million). The Facility will be used for general corporate purposes and for the refinancing of the group's existing SEK 400 million bilateral credit facility. The facility will therefore be used immediately to repay the outstanding amount of SEK 268 million in full on the June 2002 SEK 400 million loan facility.
Pelle Tornberg, President and CEO, commented: "The new facility significantly enhances the group's financial strength and provides greater operating and financial flexibility. It demonstrates the confidence of the debt capital markets in Metro, which in turn reflects the increasing profitability of Metro's operations around the world. Eleven out of fifteen Metro country operations were profitable in the second quarter of 2004 and nine countries reported operating margins of over ten per cent."
For further information, please visit www.metro.lu, email info@metro.lu or contact:
Pelle Tornberg, President & CEO tel: +44 (0) 20 7016 1300
Matthew Hooper, Investor & Press Relations tel: +44 (0) 20 7321 5010
Metro is the largest and fastest growing international newspaper in the world. 37 daily Metro editions are published in 54 major cities in 16 countries in 15 languages across Europe, North & South America and Asia. Metro has a unique global reach -- attracting a young, active, well-educated audience of more than 14.5 million daily readers and over 32 million weekly readers. Metro has an equal number of male and female readers and 70% are under the age of 45. Metro's advertising sales have grown at a compound annual rate of 47% since the launch of the first edition in 1995.
Metro International S.A. 'A' and 'B' shares are listed on the Stockholmsborsen 'O-List' under the symbols MTROA and MTROB.
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