Profit at the core company is mainly attributed to the profit from the sale of the rubber division in the amount of EUR 23.5m and EUR 5.2m profit from the sale of capital assets.

The group, which shrank to 12 companies from 22 at the end of 2012, generated EUR 200,000 in pre-tax profit in the first quarter, compared to EUR 24.8m at the core company.

In a written statement, Sava said that the sale of the rubber division enabled it to reduce its debt. The core group's debt was reduced by EUR 69.4m from the end of 2012 to EUR 229.1m at the end of March, while the group's decreased by EUR 51.1m to EUR 294.5m.

The company has reached an agreement with creditor banks that will serve as the basis for the deal to restructure all of Sava's financial liabilities and enable its future development.

The 12 members of the group generated sales revenue of EUR 12.4m in the first quarter of the year, which is down 13% considering the same make-up a year ago and 6% above projections.

The bulk of the revenue, 89.5%, was generated by the tourism division.

The group made EUR 1.8m in unplanned write-downs of financial investments, EUR 1.1m of which was related to affiliated members.

As the result of the sale of affiliated companies, the headcount at the group was reduced by 935 to 1,172, the bulk of which was at the rubber division.