The results for 2012 reflected the unprecedented developments in Albania. In January 2013, when the local license was revoked and an was administrator appointed, ČEZ’s operations in Albania definitively came to an end. The financial performance of the local distribution company no longer affects the overall results of the ČEZ Group, and ČEZ has taken the first step to initiate an international arbitration procedure due to its damaged investment. Although the European economy faced economic and debt-related problems, the ČEZ Group’s other activities performed better than planned (particularly in terms of power and gas sales to end customers and trading). In 2012, the ČEZ Group even contributed CZK 1.3 billion more to the Czech state budget than the year before. In total taxes and dividends, the Group’s contribution to the state budget reached CZK 44 billion, which is more than CZK 4,000 for each and every citizen of the Czech Republic.

“All major energy businesses in Europe have a hard time coping with the unstable environment, considerable drop of wholesale electricity prices, and a future that is hard to predict. All of them extensively divest assets and reduce headcount substantially. The ČEZ Group has so far been able to adapt to the negative trend and remains one of the least indebted energy groups in Europe, enjoying sound financial health. The cash generated by our operating activities reached nearly CZK 65 billion. The energy businesses in Western Europe nowadays feel the impacts of the economic crisis and growing energy sector regulation, which significantly affects their results. Due to the proactive measures we have taken and thanks to our successful sale of electricity generated for several years ahead, we only managed to postpone these impacts. Therefore, we have been looking for additional internal cost saving potential and adapted our partial strategies to the funds available,” said Daniel Beneš, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of ČEZ, a. s.

In 2012, the ČEZ Group spent a total of CZK 53.1 billion in capital expenditures, with a vast majority of this amount, over CZK 50 billion, flowing into fixed assets. For example, CZK 18 billion went into renewing and building classical power plants, more than CZK 11 billion was invested in developing and upgrading distribution systems, and nearly CZK 8 billion went into improving the efficiency and safety of nuclear power plants.

The ČEZ Group continues to focus on fulfilling its five strategic initiatives, with the preparation of conditions for building two new units of the Temelín Nuclear Power Plant being of the highest priority. “In just a matter of days, we are going to announce our preliminary evaluation to the bidders and start negotiations to get better bid conditions from them,” added Daniel Beneš, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of ČEZ, a. s.

Table: ČEZ Group’s financial results for 2012

                                                                                                                              (CZK billion)        Y-o-Y change in %