VILNIUS — Though the country’s economy is still in decline, Lithuanian businesses returned to profit in the first quarter of the year.

The crisis sent many businesses to the wall, separating the men from the boys. Double digit gross domestic product decline saw demand fall both domestically and abroad. This year, however, exports have already begun picking up.

Gross profit across the country came to 703.6 million litai (€204 million), compared with a net loss of 3.1 billion litai in previous quarter, Statistics Lithuania reported.

The rate of profitable companies increased over the two quarters, from 43.7 to 45 percent.

This article is free to view. To read Baltic Reports’ subscription-only articles, click here.