Metro International S.A. ("Metro International"), the international newspaper group, today announced that its newspaper in Hungary, Metropol, has entered into a new sales partnership with Axel Springer - the largest publishing group in Hungary, and concurrently implements several structural changes for the purpose of improving the financial performance of the Hungarian operation. As of today, Metropol and Axel Springer will together offer a joint advertising package combining Metropol, the most read newspaper in the Budapest and Pest county, and the strong regional coverage offered by the various newspapers of Axel Springer. The sales package will provide advertisers with the largest national reach in Hungary, reaching 1.3 million daily readers or 17% of the Hungarian population. [i] As of 1st January 2010 Metropol will be re-launched in the smaller half-Berliner format. The concept has been well perceived when tested on readers of Metropol and has also proven to be successful in the Czech Republic where it improved the positioning of the newspaper. Metropol will also increase the amount of in-house produced editorial content, particularly within the areas of entertainment and trends. Furthermore, Metropol will change printers from Adoc-Interprint Kft to AS-Nyomda Kft during the start of 2010. Following these structural changes, the annual net savings in year 2010 are estimated to be approximately HUF 150 million (EUR 0.5 million). Per Mikael Jensen, CEO Metro International commented: "By joining forces with Axel Springer, we are now able to offer our clients one of the largest reach within print in Hungary. This will enable us to compete with television, currently the largest media vehicle in the country. Through the new editorial changes and format, we aim to provide a newspaper that will better meet the needs of our young readers in Hungary. Following these changes, we are expecting that Metropol will reach profitability in year 2010." [i] Source: Millward Brown / TGI 2008/III-IV & 2009/I-II For further information please contact: Per Mikael Jensen, CEO and President +44 (0)78 4167 3230 Anders Kronborg, CFO +44 (0)79 1254 0800 Martin Alsander, EVP + 46 (0)70 422 9994 *** ABOUT METRO INTERNATIONAL AND METRO Metro is the largest international newspaper in the world. Metro is published in over 100 major cities in 19 countries across Europe, North & South America and Asia. Metro has a unique global reach - attracting a young, active, well-educated Metropolitan audience of 17 million daily readers. Metro International S.A. shares are listed on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm through Swedish Depository Receipts of series A and series B under the symbols MTROA and MTROB.
Metro International launches new advertising package and implements structural changes in Hungary
| Source: Metro International S.A.