Deputy Transport Minister M. Guerlichova said yesterday that the government is still negotiating the conditions of a sale with two bidders in Ceske radiokomunikace (TeleDanmark and Eastern Europe Telecoms Ventures fund are the two bidders, according to another source).
She also said that Cabinet would make a decision on the Ceske radiokomunikace tender either on Monday, April 9, or a week later. Finally, the deputy minister suggested that Ceske radiokomunikace would likely be split up after the tender.
The prospects of improved bid could help the stock a bit, but the suggestion that the company may be split following privatization increases uncertainty about the company’s future and may have the opposite effect.
Moreover, today, April 5, is the last day in the SPAD that Ceske radiokomunikace’s stock can be purchased with rights to the expected dividend. A dividend is to be approved at the April 19 AGM, and management is proposing a CZK 10 bil. dividend payment, implying some CZK 325 gross dividend per share (CZK 275 per share after tax). The company’s board of directors should decide next week when the dividend is to be paid; the Czech commercial code allows a maximum of three months after an AGM.
(Ondřej Daťka)