CEZ CEO Jaroslav Mil said yesterday in an interview with the financial Web site Finweb.cz that he believes the fair value of CEZ stock currently exceeds CZK 160 per share, and that under favorable conditions (e.g., a stable market, a successful acquisition in Bulgaria) it could reach CZK 180 per share. While we could hardly expect the top company official to underestimate the value of the company stock, we indeed are currently reviewing our CEZ share target price and recommendation.
Separately, the Slovak government has decided to re-open the privatization tender for its 49% stake in Slovenske elektrarne (SE), the dominant Slovak power producer, next week. CEZ has been allowed to participate in the tender as a late bidder and reportedly remains the only bidder interested in SE's nuclear assets, which are also part of the tender. The short-listed bidders should be known by the year-end and binding bids should be submitted by June 2004.Besides CEZ, eight investors had expressed preliminary interest in the SE stake, among them American AES, Austrian Verbund, German E.ON and EnBW, EdF of France, Italian Enel and British International Power.
Jiří Soustružník