Chimimport (

) booked 32.2 mln leva (16.46 mln euros) consolidated profit for the first quarter of 2008, up by 42.4%, compared to the 22.62 mln leva (11.56 mln euros) pofit posted for the year-ago period.

Chimimport's revenue from non-financial operations went up from 53.7 mln leva (27.45 mln euros) to 138.9 mln leva (71.01 mln euros), while the net profit from such operations went down to 287,000 leva (146,740 euros).

The insurance revenue of the holding company rose from 59.29 mln leva as at March 31, 2007 to 97.7 mln leva a year later. The profit from insurance operations stood at 1.97 mln leva.

Chimimport's net revenue from interests amounted to 13.555 mln leva, while the net profit from operations with financial instruments shrunk from 26.2 mln leva as at the end of March 2007 to 806,000 a year later.

The negative goodwill of the holding company amounted to 1.73 mln leva as at March 31, 2008, compared to 28.36 mln leva a year earlier.

The other financial revenue of the holding company totaled 15.25 mln leva, compared to 6.37 mln leva a year earlier.

Chimimport's issued capital stood at 150 mln leva (76.69 mln euros) as at March 31, 2008, while the equity capital totaled 837.8 mln leva (428.36 mln euros). The assets of the company stood at 2.8 bln leva (1.43 bln euros).

Major shareholders in Chimimport include Chimimport Invest with a 76.38-percent stake and Julius Baer Investment management, which owns 7.57% of the capital.

Chimimport holding owns a total of 67 subsidiaries, including Central Cooperative Bank, Oil & Gas Exploration & Production, Zarneni Hrani Bulgaria and Bulgarian River Shipping.

Chimimport closed at an average of 10.82 leva per share yesterday on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange, which values the company at over 1.6 bln leva.