Rather than bid for the coal-mining company Severoceske doly in its upcoming privatization, the state-owned CEZ should pay a large dividend next year, finance minister B. Sobotka reportedly said in a recent letter addressed to the CEZ supervisory board, according to the Czech daily MFDnes.
A larger one-off dividend could certainly be possible, and it would indeed provide a much-needed boost to state’s revenues, which is the main driving force behind the finance minister’s assertion. It would not be optimal for the stock, though: preferable for investors would be a clearly stated dividend policy for the next several years, we believe. Indeed, CEZ management recently reiterated that the company intends to raise the dividend yield on its stock to 6-7% (this would correspond to a DPS of approx. CZK 10 per share, CZK 4.5 per share was paid out of the 2002 profits). Neutral at the moment.
Jiří Soustružník