Sales at the magazine's regular £1.20 cover price earlier in the year are believed to have been around 30,000 copies fewer than that level.
Emap is putting £12m into the magazine, which it said would reach women at an older life stage than readers of its other weeklies Grazia, Heat and Closer, and offer "an intelligent read that gives them a broader perspective on the world".
It said its first year target is between 150,000 and 200,000 copies and its break-even target is three years in. Its debut ABC for July to December 2006 was 100,439.
A spokeswoman for Emap said sales have improved since the promotion of Closer editor Jane Johnson to editorial director of Closer and First in December.
First's nearest rival, Bauer's August 2006 launch In The Know, was suspended this week after Bauer admitted defeat due to disappointing copy sales.
In The Know was priced at £1 and had sold an average of 107,000 copies between September and December last year.
An industry source believes Bauer has lost around £5m on the launch.
The source said First may pick up some In The Know readers but would have to be selling more than 200,000 copies per week to make its current 99p cover price viable.
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