Valérie Decamp, managing director of Metro France, has announced that the free newspaper publisher made a profit in 2005, for the first time since the company's launch in 2002, when it reported losses of 15.8 million euros. The company declared a total revenue of 27.5 million Euros in 2005, this represents a 36% year on year increase in revenue.

Metro's revenue is provided solely by advertising, it boasts a client base of 770 advertisers. Metro's total distribution in France will reach 700 000 copies by mid-March; papers are distributed in 10 cities: Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Lille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Nice, Strasbourg, Nantes and Rennes.

Metro is set to capitalise on the World Cup, launching a special edition to cover the event in a bid to attract still more advertising revenue (see previous posting).

Source: AFP (registration required)