CEZ holds its AGM today at 10 a.m. CET. Major changes at the supervisory board and board of directors are expected, though it is not at all clear how many board members will be replaced and who the new members will be. The personnel changes are, in part, politically motivated, but the industry experience of the new appointees may be given considerable weight as well. The new appointees may be relatively low profile, providing little basis for an immediate assessment by the market. The new BoD will name a new CEO after the AGM. The previous CEO, Stanislav Svoboda, was replaced earlier this year, and Petr Voboril, the acting CEO, is a hot candidate for the position. We believe that the appointment of Voboril to the CEO position would be perceived well by the market.
In response to a report that appeared in the Prague newspaper MFDnes yesterday, the ministries of finance and industry have denied that a decision has been made to sell the state’s stake in CEZ to Electricity de France. Jan Mladek, deputy finance minister, said that CEZ would be sold in a tender. The tender method is to be decided upon during the summer.
Regarding CEZ’s telecoms business (CEZTel), and a strategic partner’s participation in that (perhaps Vivendi), there is a small chance that the AGM will be used as an occasion for some sort of a related announcement, though we do not consider this likely.
(Ondřej Daťka)