BERTRANGE, Luxembourg, May 05, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- METRO LAUNCHES IN NEW YORK CITY
Metro International S.A. ("Metro"), the international newspaper group, today launched Metro New York. 300,000 copies of the free newspaper are being distributed this morning on the streets of New York, making Metro the fifth largest newspaper in the biggest city in the United States. New York is the world's largest individual advertising buying community.
Metro International has also today launched its `Metro US' salespackage, enabling clients to buy packaged advertising space andsolutions from Metro's three Eastern seaboard editions -- New York City,Boston and Philadelphia. The three editions will have a combined dailycirculation of 620,000 copies, making Metro the seventh largest generalinterest newspaper in the United States. The three cities generatecombined gross annual newspaper advertising spend of US$ 7 billion.
The New York City edition is being distributed Monday through Friday by hand and from racks in high-traffic central locations in Manhattan, as well as along key suburban commuter routes into the city. Based on Metro's global average of 2.8 readers per copy, Metro New York will attract 850,000 daily readers.
Metro is designed and packaged for a young, urban, active, well-educated audience and provides readers with the news that they need at the time that they read. The newspaper will include Metro's distinctive mix of clear, concise, unbiased news and information. Local, national and international news reports are combined with the latest entertainment listings and reviews, together with specialist feature sections on everything from health and fitness to education, and from travel to real estate.
The launch follows the successful development of the Metro editions in Philadelphia and Boston and the new launch will further enhance Metro's strong position on the Eastern seaboard of the United States. Metro has already established itself as the second most read daily newspaper in Philadelphia and is the number one newspaper in the city of Boston. Boston has already reported quarterly profitability and sales were up 30% in the first quarter, while the Philadelphia edition reported sales growth of 13% for the first quarter of this year.
Metro New York is led by Publisher Henry Scott, who has 32 years' experience in newspaper and magazine publishing, including as President for New Media / New Products for The New York Times Company. Sales Director Shelagh Traill was previously Vice President of Global Business Development for DoubleClick Inc. in New York and spent eight years in magazine and newspaper publishing, working for `Vanity Fair', `Victoria' and `WWD'. Stefano Hatfield is Editor of Metro New York and was previously Editorial Director of the `Ad Age Global' and `Creativity' magazines, having been a columnist for `The Financial Times' and `The Times' daily newspapers.
Pelle Tornberg, President and CEO, commented: ``New York is a fantastic city and we are very excited about the opportunity to leverage our global brand in a city that is home to the world's largest individual media buying community. We have received strong support from New York advertisers and have a highly experienced local management team of industry professionals.
"The dynamism, vibrancy and diversity of the city are what Metro is all about. 27% of New York's citizens were born outside the US and 20% of our group sales are already generated from multinational advertising clients. Our presence in New York will increase the reach and coverage that Metro US offers to advertisers, as well as increasing our access to global media spend."
Metro is the largest and fastest growing international newspaper in the world. 35 Metro editions are published in more than 100 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 million daily readers and over 30 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.
This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net
The following files are available for download:
http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2004/05/05/20040505BIT20010/wkr0006.pdf
-0- please visit www.metro.lu, email info@metro.lu or contact: Pelle Tornberg, President & CEO tel: +44 (0) 20 7016 1300 Matthew Hooper, Investor & Press Relations tel: +44 (0) 20 7321 5010