PPF announces record profit for 2024 and changes to the Group's corporate governance

• PPF posted a record net profit of EUR 3.2 billion in 2024 
  
  
• The main drivers of the 2024 results were the establishment of a partnership with the global technology group Emirates Telecommunications Group Company (e&) and increased profitability across PPF's divisions and individual companies.
  
  
• Jiří Šmejc's three-year tenure as PPF CEO, agreed in 2022, will end in June.
  
  
• Two new co-CEOs, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Kateřina Jirásková, and Chief Investment Officer (CIO) Didier Stoessel, will take over the PPF Group’s executive management, supported by an enlarged and enhanced Board of Directors.
  
  
• PPF will also expand its Supervisory Board. Tomáš Otruba, a member of the advisory board of the Kellner family's AMALAR holding company, and Josef Kotrba, an economist and a former Chairman of Deloitte’s Czech office, will join the Supervisory Board along with Jiří Šmejc.

PPF Group (“PPF” or “the Group”) has announced a net profit of EUR 3.2 billion for 2024, the Group's best financial result in its nearly 35-year history. At the same time, PPF is announcing significant changes to its corporate governance.

A partnership formed last year with the global technology group Emirates Telecommunications Group Company (e&) was the main driver of the Group's strong financial performance. The transaction involved the sale of a 50% plus one share in the Group's telecommunications companies outside the Czech Republic. The performance of all of PPF's long-held divisions and companies improved, contributing significantly to the positive results. In addition to the telecommunications segment, where the EBITDAaL operating profit increased by 6.7% year-on-year, other Group companies also performed well. Despite massive investments in the Oneplay streaming platform, CME, a media company, increased its OIBDA operating profit by 5.5% compared to the previous year. Air Bank Group and PPF Bank increased their net profits by 23.2% and 6.7%, respectively, year-on-year. Škoda Transportation Group recorded an EBITDA operating profit of EUR 19 million in 2024, compared with a EUR 19 million loss in 2023.

While companies in telecommunications and financial services contributed the most to the Group's record profit, companies in its other investment pillars of media, e-commerce, and real estate also contributed to the record profit.

"It is the increased competitiveness of our companies that makes me most happy," said Jiří Šmejc, CEO of the Group, commenting on the 2024 financial results. "I am delighted to see the increase in the value of their brands, their market shares, their progress in digitalization, and their ability to work together to create additional value."

Šmejc's three-year term as CEO, agreed in 2022, will end in June.

"I feel greatly enriched, professionally and personally, having spent three years at the helm of PPF. I have been able to work with people I respect on extremely interesting and, in some cases, unique projects that have further strengthened the already exceptional position of PPF Group," said Jiří Šmejc, summing up his tenure as PPF CEO.

Commenting on the PPF’s corporate governance changes, the Group’s majority shareholder, Renáta Kellnerová said: "I would like to thank Jiří for his excellent work. During his three-year tenure, he successfully guided the Group through a challenging period, shifting a significant portion of its investments from Eastern markets to the West. I am confident the new co-CEOs, Kateřina Jirásková and Didier Stoessel, will build on Jiří's efforts. Both are strong leaders with unquestionable credibility inside and outside the Group. For PPF shareholders, they guarantee continuity, flexibility in decision-making, and the ability to manage demanding projects professionally."

Jiří Šmejc will not leave the Group entirely after stepping down as CEO. He will serve as a member of the Supervisory Board of PPF.

The new co-CEOs, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Kateřina Jirásková, and Chief Investment Officer (CIO) Didier Stoessel will take over the PPF Group’s executive management, supported by an enlarged and enhanced Board of Directors.

"I accepted the offer to take a top position at PPF for two main reasons. First and foremost, I greatly appreciate this offer from the Kellner family, for whom I have been working for almost 25 years. In addition, I believe - and this is exactly what PPF's DNA represents - that new challenges are what drive us forward, prevent us from stagnating, and, in a broader sense, enable us to live our lives to the fullest. Didier and I are taking over the Group's management from Jiří after it posted record profits. I would like to thank Jiří for his achievement setting the bar high, and I am confident that together with Didier we will be able to continue to move PPF forward," said Kateřina Jirásková, who has held various positions with the Group since 2000.

Didier Stoessel has been with PPF since 2020. Most recently, he served as CEO of CME, PPF's media division, and was involved in its transformation from a traditional television broadcaster into a major player in digital video entertainment and news in Central and Eastern Europe. Commenting on his new role at PPF, Didier Stoessel said: "I am very honored and happy to have been asked by the Kellner family to become co-CEO of PPF Group. I will do my utmost to deserve the trust that they have placed in me. Over the last 3 years, Jiří has led a very successful transformation of the Group both on the strategic and operational side and it will be very exciting and fulfilling to continue this strategic journey and to help to realize the full potential of all the changes already undertaken and of the future steps we will embark on. I am also looking forward to working closely with Kateřina on this new challenge."

Ondřej Frydrych, PPF's Chief Performance Officer, and Menno Verhoeff, a lawyer and senior manager of the Group based in the Netherlands, will join the Board of Directors (BoD). The current BoD chairman, Aleš Minx, will move to an advisory position in the Kellner family’s holding company AMALAR.

"I appreciate Aleš Minx's long-standing contributions to PPF, not only as Chairman of the Board of Directors. On behalf of the shareholders, I would like to thank him for his work and look forward to continued cooperation in the family holding company AMALAR, where his extensive management experience will be invaluable," said Renáta Kellnerová.

As part of these changes, the Group will also strengthen its Supervisory Board. Jiří Šmejc will join the Supervisory Board alongside Tomáš Otruba (advisor to the Kellner family's holding company) and Josef Kotrba, the former Chairman of Deloitte's Czech office.

Short CVs of members of the PPF Group N.V.'s governing bodies

Board of Directors of PPF Group N.V.

Rudolf Bosveld, Member of the Board of Directors

Rudolf Bosveld holds a master’s degree in management from Erasmus University Rotterdam, specializing in corporate finance. He has over 20 years of experience in financial services and financial markets. His career includes senior leadership roles such as Executive Director of Corporate Finance and Capital Markets at MeesPierson N.V., Director of Business Development, Mergers and Acquisitions at Nuon, and Managing Director at Rabobank International.

Ondřej Frydrych, Member of the Board of Directors

Ondřej Frydrych earned a degree in control systems from the Technical University of Liberec and an MBA from the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York. His early career in technology included roles in internet services at Kodak and eProductivity.com in the United States. After returning to the Czech Republic in 2001, he joined the IT consulting company Adastra Czech, serving as CEO and managing partner of Adastra Business Consulting until 2014. He joined Home Credit Group in 2016 and currently serves as PPF Group Chief Performance Officer since April 2022.

Jan Cornelis Jansen, Member of the Board of Directors

Jan Cornelis Jansen holds an LL.M. degree in Dutch Law from Utrecht University, specializing in economic, civil and commercial law. He also pursued advanced corporate law and labour relations studies at the Grotius Academie in Nijmegen and the Vrije Universiteit Law Academy in Amsterdam. He joined PPF Group in 2007 as a corporate lawyer and company secretary. In 2012, he was appointed Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Home Credit B.V. He has been a member of the Board of Directors of PPF since July 2015.

Kateřina Jirásková, Member of the Board of Directors, Co-CEO

Kateřina Jirásková graduated from the University of Economics in Prague and began her career as a securities trader at Conseq. She joined PPF Group in 2000 as a portfolio manager. For eight years, she led Generali PPF Asset Management, overseeing one of the largest investment portfolios in Central and Eastern Europe. She was responsible for the investment performance of 27 companies across 14 countries, managing assets valued at EUR 15 billion. She was appointed Chief Financial Officer of PPF Group in January 2013. She also serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of PPF a.s., Chair of the Board of Directors of PPF Financial Holdings a.s., and Chair of the Board of Trustees of PPF Foundation.

Didier Stoessel, Member of the Board of Directors, Co-CEO

Didier Stoessel joined PPF Group in 2020, taking charge of its media business following the acquisition of Central European Media Enterprises. Until recently, he served as CEO of CME, one of the largest media holdings in Central and Eastern Europe, with programming reaching 49 million viewers. He has extensive leadership experience in the strategic management of investment banking, media and technology portfolios. His previous roles include positions at Modern Times Group, HSBC and Merrill Lynch. Since April 2022, he has overseen PPF Group's investment strategy as Chief Investment Officer.

Menno Verhoeff, Member of the Board of Directors

A lawyer by education from Erasmus University Rotterdam, Menno Verhoeff has built a career in real estate management, with positions at ING Real Estate Investment Management and consulting firm CBRE. He has experience in the Dutch, Swedish, and Czech markets. Since joining PPF in 2016, he has led the team managing PPF Real Estate's portfolio in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Supervisory Board of PPF Group N.V.

Josef Kotrba, Member of the Supervisory Board

Josef Kotrba graduated from the University of Economics in Prague and earned a PhD in economics from the University of Pittsburgh. He began his academic career by working at the National Economic Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences and CERGE-EI, the Center for Postgraduate Studies at Charles University. From the mid-1990s, he held senior management positions at Česká spořitelna. He later spent the bulk of his career at Deloitte, becoming head of the Czech office and a Deloitte Central Europe board member. He currently serves as CEO of the Czech Gas Association.

Lubomír Král, Member of the Supervisory Board

Lubomír Král graduated from the Faculty of Law at Charles University in Prague. He joined PPF in 1999 and is PPF Group's Chief Legal Counsel. Since March 2007, he has served as a member of the Board of Directors of PPF a.s. Before joining PPF, he worked in the legal department at the Prague Stock Exchange's settlement center from 1997 to 1999.

Tomáš Otruba, Member of the Supervisory Board

Tomáš Otruba graduated from the Faculty of Law at Charles University. From 2004 to 2014, he was an international partner at the law firm BBH. He has been an active investor since 2015 and joined the advisory board of AMALAR Holding in 2023. An avid mountaineer, he has climbed the highest peak on every continent.

Zuzana Prokopcová, Member of the Supervisory Board

Zuzana Prokopcová graduated from the University of Economics in Prague, Faculty of Finance and Accounting, and holds an ACCA certificate. She began her professional career at PwC, where she served for 16 years as an auditor of financial institutions in the Czech Republic and with assignments in the USA, Russia and Kazakhstan. She later served as Vice-Chairwoman of the Board of Directors and Chief Financial Officer of Český Aeroholding. She has also chaired the supervisory boards of several group companies of Český Aeroholding. At PPF Group N.V., she also serves on the audit committee. She is currently an independent member of the Supervisory Board at MONETA Money Bank, chairwoman of the audit committee of MONETA Money Bank, MONETA Stavební spořitelna and Kofola Českoslovenko and vice-chairwoman of the executive board of Nadace MONETA Clementia.

Jiří Šmejc, Member of the Supervisory Board

Jiří Šmejc graduated from the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at Charles University in Prague, specializing in mathematical economics and information technology. He joined PPF Group in 2004 and became a shareholder in 2005. In 2012, he founded the investment group EMMA Capital, where he remains the majority shareholder. That same year, he exchanged his 5% stake in PPF Group for a 13% stake in Home Credit Group, where he served as CEO from 2012 to 2018. In May 2022, he took over management of PPF Group at the request of Renáta Kellnerová's family.

Kamil Ziegler, Member of the Supervisory Board

Kamil Ziegler graduated from the Faculty of Business at the University of Economics in Prague and studied at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. He has held several senior positions in the banking sector, including Executive and Financial Director of Komerční banka, a.s., Deputy CEO and member of the Board of Directors of Česká spořitelna, a.s., CEO and Chairman of the Banking Board of Konsolidační banka Praha, s.p. ú., and Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO at Raiffeisenbank a.s. He joined PPF Group in 2004. From August 2007, he served as Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Financial Officer of PPF a.s. He held various positions at PPF Group until 2012. He also served as CEO and member of the Board of Directors at SAZKA. He currently serves as an executive member of the Board of Directors at the Greek lottery operator OPAP.