BERTRANGE, Luxembourg, April 20, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Metro International S.A. ("Metro") (MTROA, MTROB) today announced its financial results for the first quarter ended 31 March 2005.
FIRST QUARTER 2005 HIGHLIGHTS
-- 28% year on year increase in net sales to US$ 84.1 million
(US$ 65.8 million)
-- Operating profit of US$ 7.5 million, including US$ 15.9 million
Metro Boston transaction profit (loss of US$ 3.9 million)
-- A 49% interest in Metro Boston sold for US$ 16.5 million
to The New York Times Company, realizing a transaction
profit of US$ 15.9 million
-- Operating loss for newspaper editions of US$ 3.6 million
(profit of US$ 0.4 million) and operating loss for online
businesses of US$ 0.4 million (US$ 0.0 million)
-- Operating profit for newspaper editions, excluding the
new Lisbon and New York editions of US$ 1.0 million
(profit of US$ 0.7 million)
-- Daily circulation at the end of March 2005 reached
6.9 million copies
-- Net profit of US$ 5.8 million (loss of US$ 5.4 million)
-- Cash and bank balances of US$ 47.3 million and net cash
of US$ 3.3 million
-- Weighted average basic profit per share of US$ 0.01
(loss of US$ 0.01)
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: +46 (0) 8 562 000 87
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