CEZ net income up 13% in first three quarters

CEZ Group’s net income increased by 13% year-on-year in the first three quarters of 2017, according to figures just published by the company.

Photo: Filip Jandourek

In a press release on Tuesday, the Czech energy giant said its net income had reached CZK 16.6 billion in the January to October period. CEZ mainly attributed this growth to the sale of stocks in the Hungarian oil and gas company MOL.

The Czech News Agency said that analysts had expected an even higher jump, to CZK 17.8 billion.

CEZ’s EBITDA fell by 6 percent year-on-year to CZK 41.1 because of a decline in realisation prices of generated electricity and increased expenses on emission allowances, the company reported.

By contrast, CEZ said, there was a positive year-on-year effect of increased generation at nuclear and wind power plants in the first three-quarters.

It also confirmed its outlook for annual adjusted net income at CZK 19 billion, though it revised its outlook for operating profit downwards by CZK 1 billion to CZK 52 billion.

CEZ’s operating revenues in the first three quarters were CZK 146.7 billion, a rise of 1 percent year-on-year, with electricity generation by conventional facilities also increasing by 1 percent.

Electricity generation by wind, photovoltaic and small hydroelectric power plants grew by 25%. CEZ put this down mainly to increased generation at its wind parks in Romania and acquisitions of wind turbines in Germany in the latter half of last year.

CEZ CEO and board of directors chairman Daniel Beneš said that 2017 had so far been a successful year for the company and highlighted its growth in new energy segments.

The news site iHned.cz reported that two factors could impact CEZ’s expected revenues between now and the end of the year.

One is a legal dispute with the Czech Republic’s Railway Infrastructure Administration. The company had anticipated a court award of CZK 1 billion in this year’s incomes but the Supreme Court struck down a ruling in CEZ’s favour and sent the case back to square one.

The second is the sale of assets in Bulgaria, which will likely not appear in the company’s accounts for 2017. CEZ has agreed the sale of a coal-fired power plant in Varna for a possible CZK 1.3 billion.

CEZ expects considerably more for the sale of a distribution network serving three million people which it has been operating in Bulgaria since 2004, iHned.cz said.