Shareholders of Czech power company CEZ AS (BAACEZ.PR) approved canceling the shares the company bought in a stock buyback program and also approved the utility launching another share buyback program, CEZ spokeswoman Eva Novakova said Thursday.
CEZ bought just under 10% of its own shares from the open market over the last year, and will now cancel those shares over the coming months before launching a new stock buyback program.
At the company's annual general meeting Wednesday, shareholders also approved a dividend payout of 40 koruna ($2.5) per share on 2007 net profit. The dividend equals a payout ratio of almost 59% of last year's net profit of CZK41.56 billion.
At the AGM, documents were released stating that CEZ coal mining subsidiary Severoceske Doly AS has been mining illegally, as required environmental impact reports expired three years ago. Also, Severoceske Doly may have to cut production in half in 2012 if required paperwork is not in order.
"We do not have such information from the management of Severoceske Doly, but we will check the true status of the matter...and then decide what the next steps will be," Novakova said.