Other 1040

Telefonica beats profit expectations

The telecom giant Telefonica Czech Republic pleased shareholders with a surprisingly profitable fourth quarter in 2011. Exceeding expectations, the company posted a CZK 2.87bn profit, compared to just CZK 1.91bn in 2010, though this was aided by one-off accounting measures. Most analysts had expected profits to come in more than CZK 600m lower. As a result, Telefonica said it would likely issue a CZK 40 dividend, but it was also expected to push for a stock buyback of roughly 10 percent of its shares.