In an interview with Bloomberg, TeleDanmark’s CEO Henning Dyremose said that while there are no other bidders aside TeleDanmark/Deutsche Bank for the state’s 51% equity stake in Ceske Radio, the negotiations with the Czech government are difficult and that they will take some time to complete. It is not certain what the latest bid is; the government seeks CZK 12 bil. (CZK 765 per share), but unofficial reports over the past weeks have varied as to the value of the latest bid, from CZK 9 bil. (CZK 575 per share) to CZK 12 bil. (CZK 765 per share). Moreover, there have been differences between the bidder and the government on other terms of the sale. Suggestions of further delays in the negotiations could hurt the stock.
Separately, Radiomobil, 39% of which is owned by Ceske Radio, yesterday released its HI CAS figures. While emphasizing that CAS figures are more-or-less irrelevant since the market favors IAS figures (to be released in September), wee see the reported HI 2001 CAS sales of CZK 10.17 bil, EBIT of CZK 2.67 bil. and net income of CZK 1.86 bil. as moderately positive. The stock did not react yesterday.
(Jiří Soustružník)