ČEZ to buy back 10 percent of own shares, hands out record dividends

Shareholders in the Czech energy giant ČEZ decided at a general meeting on Wednesday to buy back up to ten percent of the company’s share capital. Management of Central Europe’s largest electricity producer proposed to buy back up to 53.8 million shares in the next 18 months at prices ranging from 300 CZK (18.8 USD) to 2,000 CZK (126 USD) apiece. It was also decided at the meeting that the firm would pay a record dividend of 40 CZK (2.5 USD) per share before taxes from last year’s record profits. It is thought the Czech state will receive around 15.2 billion CZK (955 million USD) from the payout.