CEZ management reiterated that it expects the company’s 2003 CAS net income to reach CZK 1 bil.
Separately, the company announced that it will sell its majority stake in SCE, a regional power distributor recently acquired from the state, in accord with an antitrust requirement, though it did not say when. We thought that, among the eight regional distributors CEZ acquired from the state in a merger, either ZCE or SCE would be divested (three majority and one minority stake must be divested), as it seems that CEZ believes it can bypass SCE in its region; therefore, its value as a link to end clients is relatively diminished.
The company also reiterated that it is in talks with RWE and E.ON about swapping minority stakes in three regional power distributors.
Separately, an EGM at STE, one of the acquired distributors, approved CEZ-initiated changes in the board of directors and to its business plan.
Also separately, CEZ indicated that it may bid for Slovenske elektrarne, Slovakia’s dominant power producer. Neutral.
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