ČEZ shareholders in Czechia approve a dividend of 47 Kč per share, Košťál to leave supervisory board

Today's general meeting of energy company ČEZ ended shortly before 21:00, after lasting almost 12 hours. It approved a dividend of 47 Kč per share from last year's adjusted profit. The company will therefore distribute a total of 25,3 billion Kč to shareholders, of which the state will receive 17,6 billion Kč. Among other items, the meeting dismissed Vratislav Košťál from the supervisory board without appointing a replacement. After more than nine hours of considering reports from the company's management, proceedings picked up pace, with shareholders covering the remaining six items on the agenda in less than three hours. Around 290 shareholders attended today at the O2 universum venue in Prague's Libeň district, fewer than last year.

The dividend vote was traditionally the most eagerly anticipated item at today's ČEZ general meeting. This time, shareholders voted on a single proposal put forward by the company's board of directors, corresponding to 80 percent of last year's adjusted profit. The approved dividend is therefore lower than last year's, when the company paid 52 Kč per share, or 28 billion Kč in total. The state, as the largest shareholder, did not submit a counterproposal this year.

Today's ČEZ general meeting also addressed the composition of the supervisory board. Shareholders removed former head of the Energy Regulatory Office (ERÚ) Vratislav Košťál, who had been a board member since November 2022. His seat will remain vacant for now. The board's current vice-chairman, Roman Binder, was re-elected for another term.

The longest item on the agenda was the first one, devoted to reports from the company's governing bodies. Shareholders most frequently asked management about the company's approach to the so-called windfall tax on unexpected profits. Minority shareholders, for example, wanted to know why ČEZ's board of directors had not filed a lawsuit against the extraordinary tax. However, according to board member Martin Novák, ČEZ's own legal analyses found that the company did not have sufficient legal grounds to sue. In his view, the tax does not conflict with the constitutional order of the Czech Republic.

In other responses to shareholders' questions today, management members said, for example, that the company had not yet decided on a timetable for shutting down its coal-fired power plants. According to vice-chairman of the board of directors Pavel Cyrani, the company will make its decisions year by year, with market developments being key. At present, 2028 appears to be a critical year for the continued use of coal, although Cyrani said the timeline could change at any time. Company representatives also said that the feasibility study for lithium mining at Cínovec in the Ore Mountains should be completed in the second half of this year. Financing preparations for the project will be discussed this autumn. ČEZ management also announced that the purchase of an approximately one-fifth stake in British company Rolls-Royce SMR is expected to be completed in July. ČEZ will work with the company on the development of modular reactors.

Under the second item on the agenda, the general meeting approved the company's financial statements for 2024. ČEZ earned 30,5 billion Kč last year. The company's net profit rose by almost three percent year on year. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) also increased, while profit adjusted for extraordinary items, the key figure for determining the dividend, fell year on year. It stood at 31,8 billion Kč last year, down 3 billion Kč from the previous year.

The ČEZ Group is one of the largest energy companies in Czechia. The state is its majority shareholder, holding around 70 percent of the shares through the Ministry of Finance.