Ridgefield Park, NJ – July 7, 2003 – Agfa announced today that it has finalized a major agreement with Mainichi Shimbun Group of Japan. Mainichi Shimbun’s Tokyo Metropolitan Center is the third largest newspaper in the world. Agfa is to install two of its :Polaris XDJ CtP (computer-to-plate) systems in Mainichi Shimbun’s newly established printing plant in Fukushima, Japan. Mainichi Shimbun also decided to purchase the newspaper version of the :LP150 processors for Agfa’s :Lithostar CtP plates. “Japanese newspapers have a higher circulation than anywhere in the world”, said Mr. Yoshita Shiji, President of Mainichi Shimbun, Tokyo Metropolitan Center. “In our zone we produce 2.2 million copies per day in three printing sites. The other 13 printing sites produce another 3.4 million copies. To convert our prepress operations to computer-to-plate, we carefully reviewed options from various vendors and Agfa’s :Polaris came out as offering the highest production speed and the greatest image quality. Agfa showed us that they have hundreds of :Polaris installations with a track record of trouble-free operation all over the world, so we feel confident that we have also selected the most reliable system on the market today.” The :Polaris XDJ is a double-wide flatbed plate setter which offers a combination of the fastest imaging speeds, flexible plate formats and proven reliability. It can output 110 1W2L-format plates per hour as well as 2W2L-format plates, a typical combination for Japanese newspapers. Furthermore, the input cassettes allow the housing of over 2,000 plates of different types online. The :Polaris XDJ offers high productivity and flexibility in a double-wide format. This format was designed specifically to meet the needs of the Japanese and other markets using a similar long-plate press format. “We are very proud to embark on this relationship with Mainichi Shimbun for CtP,” said Joergen Vad, Graphic Systems manager ASPAC Region. “The :Polaris XDJ can meet the production challenges of any newspaper. Mainichi Shimbun’s choice proves that our worldwide leadership in newspaper CtP and our technology leadership are also appreciated in the high-tech environment of Japanese newspapers.”