UPDATE 1-Czech CEZ net falls below forecast, but shares up

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Central Europe's largest power company, CEZ , missed forecasts with a fall in fourth-quarter net profit to 6.6 billion Czech crowns ($307.7 million), but its shares rose slightly on an improved outlook for 2007.

The fourth-quarter result came in below the average 7.3 billion crown forecast in a Reuters poll of analysts and fell from 6.9 billion a year ago.

CEZ raised its full-year 2007 net profit outlook by 1.1 billion crowns to 35.1 billion crowns, before minority interests.

Its shares rose 1 percent to 880 crowns on Thursday, beating the Prague PX index, which stood 0.55 percent up at 0852 GMT.

Full-year 2006 net profit, excluding minority interests, rose 29.2 percent to 27.7 billion crowns and compared with a forecast of 28.4 billion.

"The principal factors driving the growth were: higher gross margin on production and sales as a result of record output from CEZ generating plants, growth in wholesale prices, and successful optimising of carbon dioxide permits and the sale of the resulting surplus," the company said in a comment on the full-year results.

Fourth-quarter sales reached 45.9 billion crowns, versus 42.27 billion predicted by nine analysts in a Reuters poll. Full year sales rose 27.6 percent to 159.6 billion.

Fourth-quarter earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) rose to 10.1 billion from 6.2 billion a year ago, a touch below the forecast of 10.3 billion.

[PRAGUE/Reuters/Finance.cz]