ČEZ starts paying dividend today, Czech state to receive 19.5 billion crowns

Energy company ČEZ will begin paying its shareholders a dividend from last year’s profit today, amounting to 52 crowns per share. It will pay out 28 billion crowns in total. The state, as majority shareholder, will receive 19.5 billion crowns. ČEZ spokesman Ladislav Kříž told the Czech News Agency (ČTK). This is the company’s third-highest dividend, matching the one paid in 2021. The company’s general meeting decided on the amount at the end of June.

ČEZ paid shareholders its record dividend last year, from the previous year’s profit, following a proposal by the state. It amounted to 145 crowns per share, or 78 billion crowns in total. The state received 54 billion crowns. The dividend was also higher in 2009, when it amounted to 53 crowns per share.

Dividend payments will begin today, Kříž said. The state should receive the money in its account on the first day, he said. According to ČEZ statistics, since 2000, when it paid its first dividend, the company has paid the state more than 313.6 billion crowns in dividends, including this year’s payment.

The state will also receive additional revenue from withholding tax on dividends paid to other shareholders, the spokesman added. This is likely to amount to hundreds of millions of crowns, he said.

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.

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