* Solar, carbon taxes to cut 2011 profit by 4.6 bln crowns
* Guidance for 2010 to be released in February
* Denies report CEZ raised 2010 profit guidance
(Releads, adds CEZ CFO denial of change in 2010 guidance,
background)
By Roman Gazdik
PRAGUE, Dec 17 (Reuters) - New taxes on solar power and
carbon credits in the Czech Republic will cut profit at power
group CEZ <> by 4.6 billion crowns ($242 million) in
2011, the group's Chief Financial Officer said on Friday.
The Czech government has pushed through a 26 percent tax on
solar power revenue from 2011 to stem a solar boom that
threatened to raise power prices on high feed-in tariffs for
solar power that distributors have to pay. []
On top of this, traditional electricity producers face
another new tax of 32 percent on the value of carbon emissions
credits granted to them for free in 2011 and 2012.
"In comparison with 2010, there will be two (new) effects...
in 2011, which are in the amount of 4.6 billion," CFO Martin
Novak told Reuters by telephone.
"But it is not possible to deduce from this what the net
profit in 2011 will be," Novak added, denying a newspaper report
which said the group's net profit next year would be around 42
billion.
He said CEZ, central Europe's largest listed company, would
release 2011 guidance in February.
Novak also denied reports in daily newspaper Hospodarske
Noviny, based on an interview with the CEZ chief operating
officer Daniel Benes, that CEZ has raised its forecast for 2010
net profit before minorities to 47.5 billion crowns.
"For now we have not released any other forecast for net
profit than that of 46.7 billion for 2010, I do not know where
they (the paper) got it from," Novak said.
The newspaper reported the new guidance figure without
publishing a direct quote from Benes.
CEZ has cut its investment by 78 billion crowns for 2010
through to 2014, pulling out of projects abroad to focus on the
domestic market, enlarging its domestic nuclear business and
also to respond to weaker power prices.
In the Hospodarske Noviny interview, COO Benes said the
company would continue to feel the impact of weak demand and
prices caused by the economic crisis.
"We expect the crisis will last until around 2013, therefore
any significant recovery or growth in prices cannot be
expected," it quoted Benes as saying.
Benes reiterated that CEZ, 69.8 percent owned by the state,
would be able to continue paying out a dividend of around 55
percent of profit, the midpoint of the company's dividend policy
range.
(Additional reporting by Jason Hovet; writing by Jana
Mlcochova, Editing by Mike Nesbit, David Holmes and Jane
Merriman)
($1=19.00 Czech Crowns)
