Standard & Poor’s announced on Friday that its ratings and outlook for Cesky Telecom will not be affected by the company’s planned acquisition of an additional 49% stake in its mobile unit, Eurotel, and by the company’s generous dividend proposal (CZK 57.5 per share).
We believed that the likelihood of a one-notch downgrade was rather high, though S&P did indicate that its stance assumes that "a meaningful part of the free operating cash flow will be used to reduce the net debt of the company."
Separately, IT Minister V. Mlynar reiterated at a press conference on Friday that the government’s plan for Cesky Telecom new privatization should be prepared by the end of 2005, but that the government is prepared to begin privatization negotiations sooner should a potential bidder appear.
Jan Hájek