The Anti-Monopoly Office confirmed its December 2002 decision as regards the number of stakes in the regional distributors CEZ must dispose after it acquires stakes in all eight domestic distributors from the state as part of the government’s energy-sector restructuring. CEZ had appealed the December 2002 decision. Nevertheless, the AMO eased its requirements as regards the deadline for the disposals (previously one year following acquisition, the new deadline was not disclosed). CEZ’s BoD will discuss further steps next week. Expected.
Recall, that the government's energy-sector restructuring plan called for CEZ to acquire from the state five majority and three minority stakes in eight regional electricity distributors. The AMO approved the plan in December 2002, but added certain conditions: CEZ must sell the three minority stakes and one majority stake, and it must sell 100% of CEPS, the transmission-grid operator, instead of the 66% proposed in the plan. Taking this as a basic scenario, we raised our target price from CZK 110 to CZK 120 per share in December 2002, we recommend to accumulate the stock.
Jiří Soustružník