BERTRANGE, Luxembourg, Jan. 19, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Metro International S.A. ("Metro"), the international newspaper group, today announced the launch of its 30th edition. The new edition was distributed for the first time this morning in the city of Toulouse, which is France's sixth largest city and one of France's leading economic and technological centres.
The Metro newspaper is already distributed in the three largest French cities -- Paris, Marseille and Lyon. 470,000 copies of Metro are now distributed in France each day, making Metro the second largest national newspaper in France. The French newspaper advertising market in France was reported to be worth US$ 1.4 billion in 2003, making it the third largest market in Europe. The four cities together represent 22.5% of the French population and Metro attracts over 1.5 million daily readers.
The new edition was distributed by hand and from racks at strategic points in the City centre and the surrounding region this morning and has a target circulation of 30,000 daily copies. The distribution covers a target population of 800,000 inhabitants and includes over 100,000 university students.
Leading French television broadcaster Television Francaise 1 S.A. recently acquired a 34.3% holding in Metro's French operations.
Pelle Tornberg, President and CEO, commented: "This development mirrors similar launches in other territories where we have added new city editions in existing Metro markets. The new launch in Toulouse increases our reach in one of Europe's largest advertising markets and establishes Metro as France's second largest national newspaper."
Metro is the world's largest newspaper, publishing and distributing 30 Metro editions in 16 countries in Europe, North & South America and Asia. Metro attracts 13 million daily readers in more than 60 cities around the world with an easy to read combination of headline local and international news and information. Metro International S.A. `A' and `B' shares are listed on the Stockholmsborsen `O-List'.
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