Czech utility CEZ cuts first-half net profit by more than a fifth to CZK 16.5 billion

Energy group CEZ earned CZK 16.5 billion in the first half of this year, with its net profit down by more than a fifth year on year. The company’s operating profit (EBITDA), by contrast, rose 7 percent from a year earlier to CZK 73.9 billion. The figures were released by the company today. CEZ said its financial results exceeded its original expectations, prompting management to raise its full-year forecasts. It now expects adjusted net profit for 2025, a key figure for the dividend, to reach CZK 26 billion to CZK 30 billion.

CEZ’s operating revenues rose by CZK 5.8 billion year on year to CZK 167.5 billion in the first half. The company said the main positive factors were the integration of the GasNet acquisition into the group, as well as sales performance and higher output from its nuclear power plants. By contrast, lower realized prices for generated electricity and lower profits from commodity trading had a negative impact compared with last year.

CEZ’s adjusted net profit fell by CZK 4.4 billion year on year to CZK 16.7 billion. The company attributed this mainly to depreciation charges that were CZK 10.5 billion higher, reflecting the integration of GasNet and accelerated depreciation of coal assets in the final quarter of last year.

“Our financial results have exceeded our initial expectations. We have therefore raised our full-year forecast: we now expect EBITDA of CZK 132 billion to CZK 137 billion and adjusted net profit of CZK 26 billion to CZK 30 billion,” said CEZ Chairman and CEO Daniel Beneš. The company has raised its expected range for operating profit by CZK 5 billion compared with the start of the year, and its forecast for adjusted net profit by CZK 1 billion.

Looking back at the past few months, Beneš highlighted the company’s most significant investment steps, led by the completion of its investment in British small modular reactor developer Rolls-Royce SMR, in which CEZ now holds a 20 percent stake, as well as a contract between its subsidiary Elektrárna Dukovany II and South Korea’s KHNP to build two nuclear units at Dukovany. “These are important milestones in ensuring energy security and affordable electricity in the Czech Republic. We are investing heavily in the transformation of the heating sector, where we have entered the implementation phase. We have defined technical solutions and timelines at all locations,” Beneš noted. The group’s total planned investment between 2025 and 2030 will exceed CZK 400 billion, he said.

Despite its investments, CEZ’s net debt fell by CZK 21.3 billion from the end of 2024 to CZK 181.5 billion.

CEZ had previously announced plans to increase output from its nuclear power plants by two terawatt-hours (TWh) this year, to almost 32 TWh. In the first six months, its nuclear plants generated 15.5 TWh of electricity, up 0.9 TWh year on year. The company said higher output this year was driven by increased capacity at the Dukovany units and, in particular, by the fact that Temelín had only one outage for a fuel change.

Electricity consumption in the distribution area of CEZ Distribuce rose 2 percent year on year to 17.4 TWh, while gas consumption in the GasNet area increased 11 percent from a year earlier to 34.1 TWh. CEZ supplied a total of seven TWh of electricity and natural gas, up 8 percent year on year.

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