BERTRANGE, Luxembourg, Aug. 23, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Metro International S.A. ("Metro"), the international newspaper group, today announced that it is expanding the distribution of its Malmo edition to cover two additional cities in Sweden, following increasing demand from advertisers. From today, Metro will be distributed in the cities of Helsingborg and Landskrona in the Skane region. Metro Malmo will now be renamed Metro Skane and will feature local and regional news as well as national news coverage and information listings.
15,000 copies of Metro are being distributed in Helsingborg and Landskrona this morning by hand and from racks at strategic locations in the city centers and surrounding areas as well as in office buildings and on college campuses. Until today, 62,600 copies of the newspaper were primarily distributed in the Malmo and Lund areas. Circulation of the newspaper has risen by approximately 25% overnight to 77,600 copies in the Skane region, one of Sweden's largest regions.
Metro was launched in Malmo 5 years ago and rapidly reached profitability. The expansion into new cities follows the launch of the Metro Hus&Hem real estate newspaper in Malmo in March and enables Metro to reach more than one third of the region's population. The gross annual newspaper advertising market in Helsingborg and Landskrona is estimated to be worth over US$ 35 million.
Pelle Tornberg, President and CEO, commented: "Our expansion into Helsingborg and Landskrona reflects the demand from our advertising clients for extensive coverage in the region. Our successful presence in Malmo gives us high expectations for our expanded Metro Skane edition and will provide Metro with additional advertising revenues."
For further information, please visit www.metro.lu, email info@metro.lu or contact:
Pelle Tornberg, President & CEO tel: +44 (0) 20 7016 1300
Henrik Persson, Investor & Press Relations tel: +44 (0) 7747 822 406
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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