* Q4 net profit hit by share revaluations
* Sees net up 6 pct in 2009, but eyes falling prices/demand
* Holding off on buyback, sees acquisition potential
* Shares down 4.4 pct on buyback news, outlook
(Adds company comment, analyst, details)
By Jan Korselt and Jason Hovet
PRAGUE, March 3 (Reuters) - CEZ's <> fourth-quarter
net profit missed forecasts after a revaluation of its stake in
Hungarian group MOL, and the Czech power group issued a cautious
outlook, sending its shares lower.
Net attributable profit more than halved to 5.63 billion
crowns in the fourth quarter as the company wrote down the value
of the 7 percent stake it holds in oil firm MOL <MOLB.BU> as
part of a joint venture. CEZ holds a put option on the shares
but must revalue them quarterly.
A longer-than-expected shutdown at its Temelin nuclear plant
and one-off gains booked last year also added pressure.
Analysts polled by Reuters had expected net profit at 7.52
billion crowns, after posting 12.64 billion crowns in the same
period a year ago. []
Central Europe's largest-listed company added it would
postpone a planned share buyback to allow it to take advantage
of acquisition opportunities, as prices become more reasonable
as a result of the global economic crisis.
The group forecast a 6 percent rise in 2009 net profit --
down from double-digit growth in previous years -- but said
falling wholesale electricity prices and a drop in consumption
posed risks to the guidance.
"The main risks are falling electricity prices, which would
mean an impact on small, open positions we have as a market
maker... (and) a drop in consumption in connection with the
economic downturn," financial director Martin Novak said.
CEZ shares dropped 6 percent after the figures, but later
recovered slightly to trade 4.5 percent off at 635 crowns at
1139 GMT. The main PX <> index lost 1.8 percent.
TOUGHER TIMES
The power group said it expected full-year net profit before
minority interests to rise to 50.2 billion in 2009, from 47.35
billion crowns last year, short of the firm's guidance of 48.6
billion due to the higher-than-expected MOL stake revaluation.
"The guidance is achievable because CEZ managed to sell the
majority of their electricity before prices went down," Komercni
Banka analyst Josef Nemy said. "I see the guidance as a bit
conservative but there is still high risk at electricity
demand."
He added he expected net profit to fall in 2010 if current
prices stayed low.
CEZ's profit has jumped several-fold in recent years as
central European power prices played catch-up with German prices
and power demand grew behind booming economic growth.
However, the global financial crisis has hammered businesses
across the region as demand for exports from a slumping euro
zone sinks and unemployment rises.
The group had doubled its dividend to 40 crowns per share on
2007 profits, and on Tuesday said it would propose a dividend
within its policy of paying out 50-60 percent of net profit.
CEZ also plans a second share buyback to improve its debt
ratios after finishing a first buyback last May. But the company
said it would hold off on a new programme for now due to
acquisition opportunities in its core central and eastern Europe
markets.
"The period of the economic decline is offering these
opportunities (acquisitions), therefore we will hold off
starting the next buyback for now," the company said in a
statement.
The company has plans to build gas-power plants with MOL and
is building plants in Romania, where it owns a distributor.
Earlier this year, it acquired a Turkish distributor and won
a tender to build new nuclear units in Slovakia. But it said it
was slowing down ambitions to expand to the vast Russian and
Ukraine markets for now.
Shares have dropped 47 percent since May, and trade at 7.5
times expected 2009 earnings, compared to 6.7 times for
Germany's RWE <RWEG.DE> and 5.2 times for Italy's Enel <ENA.MI>.
(Writing by Jason Hovet; editing by Simon Jessop)
