July 6 (SeeNews) - Serbian ice cream and frozen food company Frikom, a subsidiary of Croatian troubled concern Agrokor, is expected to record a profit of 2 billion dinars ($19.9 million/16.9 million euro) in 2018, as much as in 2016, trade minister Rasim Ljajic said on Friday.
Frikom's profit for the first five months of 2018 amounted to about 1 billion dinars, Ljajic said, as quoted in a statement by the Serbian trade ministry.
Ljalic also said that unlike Frikom, Serbian edible oils producer Dijamant, also a subsidiary of Agrokor, has reduced its headcount by 70 workers due to the crisis of its parent.
Earlier this week, the creditors of Agrokor upheld a settlement, which envisages the establishment of a new Agrokor concern, in which the largest individual shareholder will be Russia's Sberbank with a 39.2% stake.
The settlement is good news for the Serbian subsidiaries of Agrokor, as they will now be able to borrow from banks under much better conditions, Ljajic commented.
Bondholders will have a 24.9% stake, local financial institutions 15.3%, Russia's VTB bank 7.5%, while suppliers will hold 4.7%. Among the Croatian suppliers of Agrokor, diversified conglomerate Adris Grupa [ZSE:ADRS] will have the largest share of the new concern with a 1.4% stake.
Agrokor, which employs some 60,000 people in the region, has been undergoing restructuring led by a court-appointed crisis administrator under a special law on companies of systemic importance passed in April last year, with the aim of shielding the country's economy from big corporate bankruptcies.
(1 euro = 118.089 dinars)