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Metro International (STO:MTROA) Luxembourg, 20th October 2008 - Metro International S.A. ("Metro" or the "Group") (MTROA, MTROB), today announced its financial results for the third quarter ended 30th September 2008. Information was submitted for publication on 20th October at 8:00 CET A.M.
HIGHLIGHTS FOR Q3 2008
* Total net sales decreased by 14 percent to € 57.0 million (2007: € 66.2 million). Sales declined by 8 percent excluding closed and divested operations (Stockholm Bostad and Czech Republic) and by 6 percent when adjusting for the operations which did not publish during July and / or August 2008.
* The loss from operations was € 13.4 million (2007: € 13.5 million loss). Following the capital gain from Schibsted transaction, which was successfully finalised on the 24th September 2008, Metro reported an operating profit of € 24.0 million (2007: €13.5 million loss) and a net profit of € 22.2 million (2007: € 14.3 million net loss).
* Year-on-year readership has increased by 8 percent to 17.7 million daily readers (2007: 16.4 million).
* The net profit per share for the third quarter 2008 was € 0.05 (2007: loss of € 0.03).
FIRST NINE MONTHS RESULTS
* Operational sales decreased by 9 percent to € 211.9 million (2007: € 233.6 million). Sales declined by 4 percent excluding closed, divested operations and adjustments for the operations which did not publish during July and / or August 2008.
* The loss from operations was € 18.4 million (2007: € 18.7 million loss). Following the capital gain from Schibsted transaction and the 24 Timer acquisition, Metro reported an operating profit of € 19.2 million (2007: € 18.7 million loss) and a net profit of € 13.8 million (2007: € 24.1 million net loss).
CONFERENCE CALL
Metro will host a conference call today at 10.00 A.M. CET which will be broadcasted live on the internet and as a conference call.
Participants can either take part of the call through the audiocast or the conference call.
To view the Internet Audiocast: A live audiocast from the presentation will be available on www.metro.lu, 20th October at 10.00 A.M. CET.
To participate in the conference call, please dial in on the following numbers:
Sweden Tel: +46 (0)8 505 598 53 UK / International Tel: +44 (0)20 3043 2436 US free phone number Tel: +1 866 458 40 87
For those unable to listen to the live broadcast, a replay will be available at Metro's website www.metro.lu approximately one hour after the event.
For further information, please visit www.metro.lu or contact:
Per Mikael Jensen, CEO and President tel: +44 (0)20 7016 1300 Anders Kronborg, CFO tel: +44 (0)20 7016 1300 Ingrid Selden, IR contact tel: +44 (0)20 7016 1300
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ABOUT METRO INTERNATIONAL AND METRO
Metro is the largest international newspaper in the world. Metro is published in over 150 major cities in 20 countries across Europe, North & South America and Asia. Metro has a unique global reach - attracting a young, active, well-educated Metropolitan audience of over 20 million daily readers. Metro's advertising sales have grown at a compound annual rate of 38 percent since the launch of the first edition in 1995.
Metro International 'A' and 'B' shares are listed on the OMX Nordic Exchange's Nordic List under the symbols MTRO SBD A and MTRO SBD B.
The full report with tables can be downloaded from the following link:
This announcement was originally distributed by Hugin. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
