Mortsel, Belgium – 6 February 2002 – Building upon an already strong partnership, the Johnston Group and Agfa have signed an agreement that includes six Polaris CtP platesetters, Lithostar plates and Intellinet workflow software at the Group’s three major southern plants in Peterborough, Portsmouth and Northampton. The six Polaris systems will be delivered this spring as part of a major, ongoing expansion taking place within the group. The Agfa configuration was specified after a period of careful evaluation of various systems. According to David Crow, managing director of the Johnston Group’s web division, "this is a reflection of not only our ongoing relationship with Agfa for film and plate consumables, but our confidence in their professional approach to all our integrated prepress requirements. We are placing our business with Agfa because of their level of expertise and professional support in our business. They are the only vendor to focus on the newspaper industry with a dedicated team and provide such a comprehensive range of consumables and CtP systems technology." Laurence Roberts of Agfa U.K. who signed the deal with David Crow was equally enthusiastic about the prospects of providing the Group’s prepress requirements. "We can see enormous benefits for the workflow to press productivity. With greater control, higher quality and more responsive action to sales and distribution we are confident that our systems will contribute to the Group’s even greater success." About the Johnston Press Group Johnston Press plc is the fourth largest publisher of quality local newspapers in the UK. Established over 200 years ago, Johnston Press bases its publishing philosophy on local service to local communities. With over 140 markets from St Andrews in Scotland to Portsmouth and 90 local internet sites, Johnston Press employs local teams of people who have a dedicated commitment to producing local news and information that both informs and reflects the important issues of the communities they serve, thus encouraging loyal, committed and valuable readers and internet users.