Doosan Group’s key affiliates turned a profit in the first quarter of this year, after a downsizing drive targeting money-losing businesses.

Doosan Corp. said it posted 3.8 trillion won ($3.3 billion) in sales, 259 billion won in operating income and 253 billion won in net income in the first quarter, according to its regulatory filling on Tuesday.

Its sales dropped 16.52 percent from the previous quarter which saw sales of 4.6 trillion won. However, both operating income and net income turned a profit from the 340 billion won in operating income and 1.2 trillion won in net income in the fourth quarter of last year.

The big contributor to the conglomerate's turnaround was Doosan Infracore, which went through a massive layoff, including voluntary retirement of employees.

The construction equipment maker posted 111 billion won in operating income in the first quarter, after posting a whopping 859 billion won in net loss last year.

Doosan Infracore also sold its lucrative machine tool business division to private equity firm MBK Partners in December to ease liquidity concerns.

On Tuesday, Doosan Corp.’s stock price closed at 105,000 won, a 2.94 percent increase from the previous day.

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)