The Czech Finance Ministry will propose ending a windfall tax on energy firms and banks a year early so that it will not apply in 2025, Finance Minister Zbynek Stanjura was quoted as saying on Thursday.

Stanjura told news website SeznamZpravy.cz in an interview that conditions for cancelling the tax had been met, although it was not realistic to end the special tax this year.

The Czech government, like others in Europe during an energy price spike, had introduced a windfall tax targeting profits of energy firms and banks to help cover energy price assistance along with other levies. It was due to run three years from 2023.

"In debates with my (government) coalition colleagues, I will propose that we should not have this tax for 2025," Stanjura was cited as saying.

The state expects 17 billion crowns ($728 million) in revenue from the tax this year, down from 39.1 billion crowns last year, Seznam Zpravy said. Energy aid, which was less than the revenue created by the tax last year, is set to fall.

The country's biggest electricity producer CEZ, a top listed utility in central Europe with market capitalisation of $18.9 billion, has forecast the windfall tax and other production levies will take a big chunk out of 2023 profit.

($1 = 23.3450 Czech crowns) (Reporting by Jason Hovet; Editing by Toby Chopra)