STOCKHOLM, Sweden, April 3, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Metro International S.A. ("Metro") (Nasdaq:MTROA) (Nasdaq:MTROB), the international newspaper group, today announced that it has extended the circulation of MetroXpress to cover Denmark's second largest city, Aarhus and the Eastern part of Jutland. In combination with the existing circulation in the Danish capital Copenhagen, MetroXpress will now be the largest newspaper in Denmark and reach an area representing 70% of Denmark's U.S. $480 million annual newspaper advertising market.
65,000 additional copies of MetroXpress have been printed in Denmark and distributed this morning by hand in the City center of Aarhus and on commuter trains in the East Jutland region under an existing agreement with train network operator DSB. The distribution covers the half a million people living and working in the Eastern part of Jutland and the city of Aarhus, which is renowned for its concentration of colleges and universities. MetroXpress' daily circulation will now be 235,000, of which 170,000 copies are distributed by hand and on commuter trains in Copenhagen.
The expansion follows the publication of the results of the latest independent newspaper readership survey by Gallup in the Greater Copenhagen area. The survey confirmed MetroXpress' position as the most read newspaper amongst people under 50 years of age. With a total of 289,000 daily readers after only 7 months in the market, MetroXpress is the second most read newspaper and only 30,000 readers behind the market leader.
Pelle Tornberg, President & CEO of Metro International, commented: "The success of MetroXpress in its first seven months has enabled us to fund this expansion within our original budget for the Copenhagen edition. The MetroXpress sales team will now be able to target national as well as local advertisers from a position of clear market leadership, and with the same high proportion of young and female readers that Metro editions attract around the world."
Metro is the world's largest free newspaper, publishing and distributing 22 editions in 14 countries in 12 languages: Stockholm (Metro), Prague (Metro), Gothenburg (Metro), Hungary (Metro), the Netherlands (Metro), Helsinki (Metro), Malmo (Metro), Santiago (Publimetro), Philadelphia (Metro), Toronto (Metro Today), Rome (Metro), Milan (Metro), Warsaw (Metropol), Athens (Metrorama), Montreal (Metro), Barcelona (Metro Directe), Boston (Metro), Madrid (Metro Directo), Copenhagen (MetroXpress), Paris (Metro), Marseille (Metro) and Lyon (Metro).
Metro International S.A. 'A' and 'B' shares are listed on the NASDAQ National Market and on the Stockholmsborsen O-List under the symbols MTROA and MTROB.
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