Metro launches free newspaper in Athens, Greece
METRO LAUNCHES FREE NEWSPAPER IN ATHENS, GREECE Metro International S.A. ("Metro"), today announced the launch of a new edition of the 'Metro' free daily newspaper in Athens, the capital city of Greece, under the title 'Metrorama'. 125,000 copies of 'Metrorama' have been published this morning, making it the largest newspaper in Greece by circulation. The free newspaper is distributed by hand in high public traffic areas in the city centre, such as outside subway stations, train stations and office buildings. Metrorama publishes local, national and international news in a format that can easily be read during the typical commuter journey of between 15 and 20 minutes. The population of Athens is approximately 3.7 million and an estimated average of 400,000 commuters travel on the Athens subway each day. Metro's revenues are derived from advertising sales . Athens' annual advertising spend is reported to be approximately US$ 100 million and to be expanding at approximately 20% per annum. Pelle Törnberg, President & CEO of Metro International, commented: "Athens, the host of the 2004 Olympic games, is a major European city with a rapidly growing advertising industry. We believe that readers will be attracted by our unbiased presentation of relevant news and information. By distributing Metrorama in commuter zones, we will be offering advertisers the opportunity to target a significant proportion of young professional readers." "This launch continues the rapid expansion of the Metro concept which has already seen us start up 11 new editions this year and four within the past month alone." Metro International S.A. publishes and distributes free daily newspapers, comprising 18 editions in 14 countries: Stockholm ('Metro' & 'Everyday'), Gothenburg ('Metro'), Malmö ('Metro'), Helsinki ('Metro'), Prague ('Metro'), Budapest ('Metro'), Holland ('Metro'), Newcastle ('Morning News'), Zurich ('Metropol'), Santiago ('MTG'), Rome ('Metro'), Philadelphia ('Metro'), Toronto ('Metro'), Buenos Aires ('PubliMetro'), Milan ('Metro'), Warsaw ('Metropol') and Athens ('Metrorama'). Metro International S.A. 'A' and 'B' shares are listed on the Stockholms Börsinformation (SBI) and on the NASDAQ National Market under the symbols 'MTROA' and 'MTROB'. For further details, please visit www.clubmetro.com, email info@sharedvalue.net or contact: Pelle Törnberg - President & CEO, Metro International +44 (0) 20 7408 0230 Metro International S.A. 75, Route de Longwy LU-8080 Bertrange, Luxembourg ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by BIT http://www.bit.se The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/11/13/20001113BIT00130/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/11/13/20001113BIT00130/bit0002.pdf