Top Czech Business News - Prague Daily Monitor

Subsidies for agriculture and related segments in the Czech Republic grew by more than CZK 6 billion year-on-year to CZK 43.8 billion in 2009, according to a draft report on Czech agriculture in 2009.

Mainly industrial and construction companies in the Czech Republic expect to lay off staff in the near future, while firms in trade are more optimistic about employment, according to data released by the Czech Statistical Office on confidence indicators for April.

The largest Czech telecom company Telefonica O2 said yesterday its consolidated net profit fell by 24% to CZK 2.01 billion in the first quarter of 2010.

Yesterday's data on Czech GDP growth of 1.2% year-on-year in Q1 this year point to a gradual, lasting revival of the economy this year, analysts polled by ČTK said yesterday.

Čedok, the second largest Czech travel agency, saw its gross profit decrease by 23% to CZK 43 million last year and sales fall by 6% to CZK 3.3 billion, Hospodářské noviny reported yesterday.

Power producer ČEZ paid the highest amount in corporate income tax last year, the same as in the previous years, followed by phone operator Telefonica O2 and Komerční banka, according to the Finance Ministry's data.

The Czech National Bank disagrees with the Convergence Report issued by the European Central Bank in which the ECB assesses the economic and legislative convergence of nine EU members, CNB Spokesman Marek Petruš told ČTK yesterday.

Czech pension funds' Q1 profit grew by CZK 255 million to CZK 1.14 billion year-on-year, according to data the Pension Funds Association (APF) presented to ČTK yesterday.

Sales of new computers in the Czech Republic rose by 8% to 288,516, mainly thanks to notebooks whose sales jumped by 18% to 208,596, analytic company Gartner said yesterday.

Gas distributor Východočeská plynárenská will pay a dividend worth CZK 772 per share from last year's profit, which is CZK 468 more than in 2009, shareholders decided yesterday at the company's general meeting.

Czech oil and chemicals group Unipetrol is expected post a net profit of between CZK 250 million and CZK 300 million for the first quarter of 2010, a year-on-year improvement, analysts have told ČTK in a poll.

Unadjusted revenues from services dropped by 3.8% on the year between January and March this year, the biggest fall seen for professional, scientific and technical services, the Czech Statistical Office announced yesterday.

The number of guests at accommodation facilities rose by 0.5% year-on-year to 2.2 million in Q1 this year, while the number of overnight stays fell 1.2% to 6.9 million, the Czech Statistical Office said.

Metrostav will distribute CZK 170 million in dividend from its 2009 profit, according to a decision by the company's general meeting, the company said in a press release yesterday.

Yesterday's data on April inflation indicate that the inflation rate will grow up to 2% in summer, which analysts polled by ČTK have assigned to a gradual economic revival.

Czech year-on-year inflation in March was 0.2 percent point higher than the Czech National Bank predicted in its latest forecast, Tomáš Holub, head of the CNB's monetary and statistical section, told ČTK yesterday.

As the Czech industry begins to pick up, unemployment decreased to 9.2% in April from 9.7% in the previous month, which is a good sign, analysts polled by ČTK said yesterday.

Current incomes of Czech households fell by 2.2% last year while their expenditures stagnated, according to an analysis the Labour and Social Affairs Ministry is to submit to the government today.

The volume of movable property leasing by members of the Czech Leasing and Finance Association (CLFA) fell by almost 20% year-on-year to CZK 8.34 billion in the first quarter of this year, the CLFA said in a press release Friday.