CEZ, the leading Czech power company, announced on Thursday that its net profit for 2023 amounted to 29.6 billion Czech crowns ($1.27 billion), marking a significant decrease of over 63% compared to the previous year, which witnessed record-breaking profits.
The decline in profit was primarily attributed to a windfall tax imposed on profits amid surging energy prices, as stated by the country’s primary electricity producer.
Daniel Benes, the CEO of CEZ, remarked, “Despite the imposition of an extraordinary levy on excess revenues from generation, we achieved the highest profit in the last decade in 2023, except for the exceptional year of 2022.”
However, CEZ highlighted that the profit surpassed its initial target, thanks to additional gains from commodity trading and the consistent performance of its nuclear power plants.
In 2022, the company experienced a remarkable surge in profits due to the substantial increase in prices triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, augmented profits from commodity trading in foreign markets, and the exceptional operational reliability of its power plants.
This surge resulted in record dividends of 145 Czech crowns per share.
