On Friday Czech government officials continued to issue conflicting statements on the sale of the state’s 16% stake in CEZ with Finance Minister Bohuslav Sobotka saying he is in favour of disposing of the 16% stake while keeping majority control over the company. Sobotka declined to comment on the possibility of CEZ buying the 16% stake from the state. Note that Industry Minister Urban said a day earlier that he would prefer the state to retain its full 68% stake in CEZ .
Separately, Severoceske dole (SD), the country’s largest coal mines, in which CEZ holds a 37% stake, announced that its pre-tax income increased by 5.6% y-o-y to CZK 1.4bn in 2004 (its best results in 11 years) despite lower sales of coal (down by 1m t) thanks to continued cost cutting. Note that Czech government officials seem in favour of selling the state’s 55% stake in SD to CEZ directly. The Cabinet should prepare the privatization of SD by the end of February