Telefonica Czech Republic AS (BAATELEC.PR), majority owned by Spain's Telefonica SA (TEF), may boost its share buyback program in 2012 beyond the already approved the first tranche of 2%, the head of the company's finance and investor relations department said Thursday.

"I can't rule out boosting the share buyback program," Tomas Kouril told a news conference.

The company's approval of the first tranche of its share buyback follows its general authorization for a potential share buy back of up to 10% of its shares through 2017.

Kouril declined to comment on whether the company is capable of maintaining its current dividend payout of 40 koruna a share, already confirmed for 2011.

"I can't say anything about this, but I can confirm that it isn't our goal to sit on any excess cash," Kouril said.

-By Leos Rousek, Dow Jones Newswires; +420 222 315 290; leos.rousek@dowjones.com

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