The world's largest international newspaper, Metro International SA, announced that it will cut its overall workforce in Denmark by 20 percent to 25 percent, due to the current global economic downturn, Metro announced in a press release Monday.

Metro's two Danish titles are MetroXpress and 24 Timer. The precise number of redundancies will be decided after Metro negotiates with the Danish Union at the end of the month.

“We are taking these difficult actions not only in response to the current industry conditions, but also to realise synergies between MetroXpress and 24 Timer which was part of the strategy for acquiring a stake in 24 Timer earlier this year. Synergies will mainly be generated in the editorial departments; however all other functions will be affected as well,” Anders Kronborg, chairman of the board in Denmark, stated in the press release.

The workforce reduction is projected to produce annual savings in the 2009 economic year of about €2.0million.

However, the job cuts are likely to result in a charge in the 4th quarter of 2008 of about €0.6 million for approximate cash severance payments, the press release stated.

Metro is published in more than 150 major cities in 20 countries throughout Europe, North and South America and Asia. Metro's advertising sales have grown at a compound annual rate of 38 percent since the launch of its first edition in 1995.