METRO TO BE LAUNCHED IN THE NEWCASTLE AREA The daily newspaper Metro continues to expand. An agreement has been signed for Tyneside, the North East region of the United Kingdom. Metro will be distributed on the Metro rapid transport system, ferries, and at bus terminals and transport interchanges. Metro International announced that they have signed a distribution agreement with Nexus, the Executive of TWPTA, Tyne & Wear Passenger Transport Authority. The number of passenger journeys in the region amounts to 250 million per year. -We are very pleased to be working with Nexus in the North East of England. The transport system in the area is first rate and we look forward to adding our publication to the benefits of all those using this network, says Pelle Törnberg, president and CEO of Modern Times Group MTG AB. Metro International is a business area within MTG. Metro was first published in Stockholm in 1995. Two years later, the first foreign edition was published in Prague. In 1998, Budapest, Hungary, and Gothenburg, Sweden, were added. Earlier this year, an English-language edition of Metro was launched in Helsinki, in conjunction with Finland's chairmanship of the EU. A Finnish edition was also launched in Helsinki. Also this year, Metro was launched in the Netherlands, with distribution on most train and commuter rail lines, as well as on the subways in Rotterdam. Publication has also begun in the Skåne region in southern Sweden to complement editions in Stockholm and Gothenburg. Next year publication will begin in Zurich and also start outside Europe. Agreements were signed earlier this summer with mass transit authorities in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and in Santiago, Chile. Newspapers in Modern Times Group MTG AB's core markets, the Nordic countries and Baltic states, belong to the Publishing business area. Editions outside the core markets make up the Metro International business area. For futher information, please contact Pelle Törnberg, president and CEO of MTG, at +46-8-5620 0050 or Jens Torpe, COO of Metro International, at +44-171-408 02 30. Modern Times Group MTG AB is listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange's O list (symbol: MTG) and on the Nasdaq National Market in New York (symbol: MTGNY). ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/10/14/19991014BIT00500/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/10/14/19991014BIT00500/bit0002.pdf