Press release, 29 October 2012Metro to be part of Helsingin Sanomat, publication of Vartti in capital region discontinued The co-operation negotiations launched in Sanoma Kaupunkilehdet on 12 September are now concluded. The outcome is that free sheet Vartti will no longer be published in the capital region and the site Metrolive.fi will be taken down. Through the operational reorganisation, 27 people will lose their jobs.The last issues of Vartti in the capital region (Helsinki, Espoo, Kauniainen, Vantaa) will be published on 31 October. Also, Metrolive.fi will be taken down on 31 October. In addition, the remaining functions of Sanoma Kaupunkilehdet will be included as part of the Helsingin Sanomat organisation and Sanoma News' corporate customer service.As a result of the changes, 27 people will lose their jobsthrough termination or through fixed-term employment not being continued. The full impact is 19 man-years."We have re-evaluated our product range and operating model in the changing marketing environment. Unfortunately, the operating reorganisation also causes a loss of jobs," says Pekka Soini, CEO of Sanoma News.In addition to changes in product range and reorganisation, changes in media demand are addressed through continuous development work.In January, Helsingin Sanomat will start publishing a new free sheet once a week. Metro paper's development will continue and Omakaupunki.fi will be updated to Metro's online service.Vartti Uusimaa (published in Nurmijärvi, Tuusula, Kerava, Järvenpää and Hyvinkää), Vartti Itä-Uusimaa (published in Itä-Uusimaa region) and Vartti Kouvola and Vartti Etelä-Karjala will be published as usual.The reorganisation of Sanoma Kaupunkilehdet operations is part of overall Sanoma Group transformation process. Sanoma News has in the context of its structural savings programme already told about the concluded co-operation negotiations at Sanoma Lehtimedia and Sanoma Digital Finland. The negotiations of Sanoma Magazines Finland were concluded last week. Similar programmes are in progress in other Sanoma units and countries, too. Our target is to be in the forefront of the market development and secure our good performance and profitability in a changing and digitalising operating environment, said Harri-Pekka Kaukonen, President and CEO of Sanoma, in a release on 16 August 2012.More information:Pekka Soini, CEO, Sanoma News, tel. +358 9 122 2000Sanoma News is the leading newspaper publisher in Finland, and its products in both print and digital format have a strong presence in the lives of their readers. In addition to Helsingin Sanomat, the largest daily in the Nordic region, the division publishes Ilta-Sanomat, Finland’s largest quality tabloid and Taloussanomat, the number one digital financial media, as well as regional newspapers. Sanoma News is also among the most significant digital actors in Finland. Sanoma News is part of the Sanoma Group, a strong European media group operating in diverse fields of consumer media and learning in 20 countries.