LONDON (Brand Republic) - Metro International, the company that came up with the much-copied free Metro newspaper concept, is undergoing a restructure to save annual costs of $1m.
Metro International, which publishes 17 editions of free daily newspapers in 13 countries, is centralising key news and information services, such as weather maps and financial markets, in all its editions. Tony Metcalf, the newspaper鈥檚 editor-in-chief, will head up the newswire division.
In addition to the savings, analysts calculate Metro, which was formerly part of the Swedish Modern Times group, could make $90m a year from syndication deals with rival publishers. It is the world鈥檚 sixth-largest newspaper by circulation and distributes 3.3m copies every day.
Metro was beaten to the punch in the UK where the Daily Mail & General Trust launched a highly successful version in London.
Metro publishes editions in cities including Buenos Aires, Philadelphia and Helsinki.