CEZ said yesterday that it has no supply contract with RWE. Nevertheless, given the strong opposition to “nuclear” electricity from CEZ in Germany and Austria, the possibility that other buyers may join E.ON (which expressed its intention to terminate purchases from CEZ and currently negotiates with CEZ about mutually acceptable solution) can not be ruled out. CEZ CEO Jaroslav Mil said yesterday that it will be difficult for the company to reach its profit goal for this year (approx. CZK 7 bil., IAS) due to the problems with exports to Germany. He also said that CEZ could lose billions of crowns due to market liberalization, which begins next year.
Our 2001 IAS net profit forecast for CEZ is CZK 6.2 bil. The CEO’s statements are negative, though they amount to political lobbying, in our view. This is not new, but given the large amount of pessimistic information released recently, it could hurt the stock.
CEZ’s AGM yesterday approved a gross dividend of CZK 2 per share. Since the record date is June 13, the stock should not react to the dividend news.
(Jiří Soustružník)