Czech Škoda JS raised operating profit to 287 million Kč and revenue by a fifth to 3.9 billion Kč last year

Pilsen-based Škoda JS a.s., a leading European manufacturer and supplier of nuclear power equipment, increased its operating profit by 16 percent year on year to 287 million Kč last year. Revenue rose by almost 20 percent to 3.92 billion Kč. Exports accounted for just under half of last year's revenue, mainly to Slovakia and Ukraine. This is according to information in the annual report, which was highlighted today by Ekonomický deník. Nuclear power is attracting greater interest, according to CEO František Krček.

Net profit fell year on year from 591 million Kč to 302 million Kč. However, the two figures are not entirely comparable: 2023 profit was significantly affected by the sale of a 17 percent stake in the ÚJV Řež research centre to parent company ČEZ, the newspaper reported.

The Pilsen engineering company increased the value of contracts signed by 34 percent year on year to 5.13 billion Kč. “The nuclear power sector as a whole is, figuratively speaking, shifting into a higher gear. Countries around the world are planning to build more new nuclear power plants and are also investing significant sums, for example, in developing small modular reactors,” Škoda JS Chairman and CEO František Krček said in the annual report. Last year's revenue came mainly from engineering and services for nuclear power plants, while equipment manufacturing for nuclear power plants and spent nuclear fuel storage accounted for around a fifth.

This year, Škoda JS wants to take part in building a new unit at the Dukovany nuclear power plant, whose main contractor is South Korea's KHNP. It will also be involved in commissioning the fourth unit at the Mochovce plant in Slovakia. “We would also like to contribute our manufacturing and engineering capacity to a joint project between our parent group ČEZ and the British company Rolls-Royce,” Krček said.

During President Petr Pavel's March visit to Škoda JS's reactor hall, Krček said that if the Pilsen-based company, which employs 1,100 people, won the expected volume of supply contracts for the new Dukovany unit, it would hire 200 to 250 employees. Tax contributions, including social security and health insurance, would thus increase by more than 100 million Kč, excluding subcontractors and other companies from the Czech Republic.

Škoda JS focuses on nuclear power plants, research reactors and spent nuclear fuel storage facilities in Central and Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, France, Germany, the USA, Austria, Finland, Belgium, the UK, China, Armenia and other countries. It has manufactured and supplied 21 complete VVER 440 nuclear reactors and three VVER 1000 reactors. Since the 1990s, it has also focused on Western markets and technologies. It works with leading global companies in the sector, spokesperson Karel Samec said.