Free newspaper group Metro swings to Q4 profit

Metro International, the world's largest free newspaper group, swung to a profit in the fourth quarter as it continued to shrink its operations and gained share in most of its markets. Metro, which hands out free newspapers to commuters in 19 countries, reported a total operating profit of €9.3m ($12.90m) for the period, versus a year-ago loss of €1.6m. Net revenue fell 2 per cent year-on-year. Chief Executive Per Mikael Jansson said the company was entering 2010 in a stronger position in most of its markets and would continue to strive for lower costs. After several years of expansion, Metro was forced to contract sharply and rapidly when the global downturn hit in 2008 because its revenues were more sensitive to the collapse in advertising spend than traditional print media. Metro's full-year result reflected the changing times, with a total operating loss of €13.4, a 7 per cent decline in net revenue, and the disposal of its operations in Spain, the United States, Portugal and Italy. CEO Jansson was tight-lipped about the outlook for the rest of the year, but said in an interview in late 2009 that Metro was optimistic about being profitable in 2010.