CEZ management wants to propose a dividend of 44 crowns at the June General Meeting.
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The Ministry of Finance published a counter-proposal in the afternoon, some experts criticized the move, according to them it was price-setting information to be announced before the markets opened.
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“The Czech National Bank is examining the circumstances in which the relevant notice was published. It is therefore premature on our part to draw conclusions on this matter, “said Fišerová.
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At the same time, the Ministry of Finance wants to extend the deadline for dividend payment by three months from 1 August to 1 November, so that the company has enough time to obtain liquidity.
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The Ministry of Finance announced this in a press release after 12:00 on Monday. It originally announced that it would publish the information at 2 p.m.
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The state wants to use the higher income from the dividend to the state budget to compensate for high energy prices to citizens.
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“Such price-setting information should be announced before the markets open. It is very bad that the state does not follow this basic rule, and thus shows a bad practice for issuers and shareholders, “said Radim Dohnal, an analyst at Capitalinked.com, and former ČEZ shareholder.
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“The CNB or the stock exchange should have called. The Minister of Finance should fire the head of the communication department at the Ministry of Finance, “he added.
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CEZ CFO Martin Novak said on Twitter that CEZ has sufficient liquidity.
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“We have enough liquidity to pay the dividend, but despite all the measures, it could be missing during the summer. Given the limited functioning of financial markets in the summer months, it would be very difficult to replace it, especially if the entire sector is facing exposure limits for the banking sector, ”he said.
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The proposal of the company’s management to pay a dividend of CZK 44 per share would mean the payment of a dividend of CZK 23.7 billion. The total dividend paid at CZK 48 per share will eventually reach CZK 25.8 billion.
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CEZ Group’s net profit last year reached CZK 9.9 billion, up 81 percent year-on-year. After adjusting for extraordinary effects, on the other hand, it fell by three percent year on year to 22.3 billion crowns.
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CEZ’s majority shareholder is the state, which holds about 70 percent of the shares through the Ministry of Finance.
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