BERTRANGE, Luxembourg, March 31, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Metro International S.A. ("Metro"), the international newspaper group, today announced that Metro Hungary has expanded the national edition to cover five more cities. This latest move increases Metro Hungary's circulation by 50,000 copies to 380,000 copies per day. It is expected over time to increase Metro Hungary's official readership to close to 800,000 daily readers.
After the expansion of the national edition into five more cities, Metro Hungary's two editions will be distributed in 24 Hungarian cities, including the capital Budapest. The Hungarian operation, which earlier this quarter became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Metro International, reported an operating profit margin in 2004 of more than 10% on sales up year on year by 9%.
Pelle Tornberg, President and CEO, commented: "This latest expansion of Metro Hungary allows us to consolidate our position as Hungary's leading newspaper. Our expanded national presence follows consultation with leading advertisers and will further improve our service."
Metro is the largest and fastest growing international newspaper in the world. 52 daily Metro editions are published in 75 major cities in 17 countries in 16 languages across Europe, North & South America and Asia. Metro has a unique global reach -- attracting a young, active, well-educated audience of more than 15 million daily readers and over 33 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.
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