BERTRANGE, Luxembourg, Aug. 04, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Metro International S.A. ("Metro") (MTROA, MTROB), today announced its financial results for the second quarter and six months ended 30 June 2004.
SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 JUNE 2004
- 50% year on year increase in net sales to US$ 145.4 million (US$ 96.7 million)
- 70% year on year reduction in operating loss to US$ 4.0 million (US$ 13.6 million)
- 76% year on year reduction in net loss to US$ 5.2 million (US$ 21.7 million)
- Weighted average basic loss per share of US$ 0.01 (US$ 0.2 per share)
SECOND QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS
- Net profit of US$ 0.4 million (loss of US$ 6.5 million)
- Operating profit of US$ 1.0 million (loss of US$ 3.2 million)
- Net sales up 50% year on year to US$ 79.6 million (53.1 million)
- Operating profit for newspaper editions increases to US$ 6.7 million (US$ 1.2 million)
- 11 out of 15 country operations report quarterly operating profits
- 9 out of 15 country operations report operating margins of over 10%
- Daily readership up 13% to 14.5 million
- Weighted average basic earnings per share of US$ 0.00 (loss of US$ 0.06)
For additional information, please see full release attached.
For further information, 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
Metro is the largest and fastest growing international newspaper in the world. Metro editions are published 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 14.5 million daily readers and over 32 million weekly readers. Metro has an equal number of male and female readers and nearly 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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