The management of the ČEZ energy company proposes to pay a dividend of CZK 52 per share before tax from last year’s profit. If the General Meeting decides according to the proposal of the Board of Directors, a total of 28 billion crowns will be distributed among the shareholders. This was announced by ČEZ spokesman Ladislav Kříž.
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The state, as the majority shareholder, will receive approximately 20 billion crowns. According to the company, the proposed dividend reflects the sale of Romanian assets. Last year, ČEZ paid a dividend of 34 crowns per share before tax from the previous year’s profit.
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CEZ owns 70 percent of the state through the Ministry of Finance, the rest is held by private shareholders. The majority of the dividend paid is thus directed to the state; voting at the ČEZ General Meeting generally ends according to the wishes of the Ministry of Finance.
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This year’s general meeting will take place on Monday, June 28, the company announced. Last year, CZK 18.3 billion was distributed among all shareholders from ČEZ’s adjusted previous year’s profit, and the state, as the majority shareholder, received approximately CZK 12.8 billion.
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Last year, the net profit of the ČEZ energy group fell year-on-year from CZK 14.5 billion last year to CZK 5.5 billion, ie by 62 percent. According to the company, the decline was due to higher provisions due to the sale of Romanian assets, deteriorating conditions for coal energy and higher emission allowances.
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After adjusting for extraordinary non-monetary effects, however, net profit increased by 21 percent to 22.8 billion crowns. It is from the adjusted profit that the dividend is paid. The group’s revenues increased by four percent year-on-year to 213.7 billion crowns, which is the highest since 2013.
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“The proposal assumes the payment of 100 percent of the consolidated net profit for 2020 adjusted for extraordinary effects and reflects the contribution of the sale of Romanian assets to the total debt capacity of the ČEZ Group,” said Kříž.
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CEZ completed the sale of Romanian assets to Macquarie Infrastructures and Real Assets (MIRA) at the end of March this year. The agreement on the sale of the company was concluded last October, and the transaction was subsequently approved by the European Antitrust Authority and the Romanian State Security Council. The company did not state the price, analysts previously estimated that ČEZ received 25 to 30 billion crowns for the sale.
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