Spark New Zealand Limited

Adjusted revenue was stable at $3.7 billion. Adjusted EBITDA declined 2.4% to $1.035 billion, adjusted NPAT declined marginally to $225 million, and free cash flow increased 18.5% to $308 million. Reported EBITDA was $1,295 million, up 23% year over year, and reported NPAT was $499 million, up 91.9%, helped by the $278 million gain on sale of the data center business. Business-as-usual CapEx was flat at $401 million, or 10.8% of adjusted operating revenue. For FY'27, Spark guided to adjusted EBITDA of $1,010 million to $1,080 million, BAU CapEx of $350 million to $380 million, free cash flow of $300 million to $350 million, and a dividend range of $0.16 to $0.18 per share.

Jolie Hodson framed FY'26 as a year of execution under SPK-30, saying Spark refocused on core connectivity, returned mobile service revenue to growth, and continued to simplify beyond the core despite a subdued economy. She emphasized stronger fundamentals, including productivity improvements, improved free cash flow, and leverage returning to target after the data center transaction. Her tone was constructive and directional, highlighting a stronger platform for shareholder returns and a pipeline of FY'27 mobile initiatives.

Stewart Taylor focused on the bridge between reported and adjusted results, explaining that reported EBITDA of $1,295 million included the $278 million data center gain, while adjusted EBITDA of $1.035 billion is the better year-on-year comparison. He said productivity delivered $40 million of benefits in FY'26, including $35 million of sustainable product cost reductions and a net $5 million labor/OpEx benefit, bringing cumulative cost reductions to $101 million. He also pointed to flat BAU CapEx of $401 million, free cash flow of $308 million, core net debt of $898 million, net debt/EBITDA of around 1.7x, and FY'27 guidance for EBITDA, CapEx, free cash flow, and dividends.

Analysts focused on enterprise and government mobile pricing, with management saying the rate of decline in that segment has slowed and that FY'27 should see similar levels of change, while most of the bulk of the decline should be complete by the end of FY'27. Ben Crozier asked about the DRP, and Stewart Taylor said it is being reinstated because retail investors wanted it and it provides some balance as Spark looks to maintain headroom versus its credit metric, with the DRP offered at a 0% discount. Questions also covered fixed wireless/broadband losses and data center earn-out confidence; management said wireless broadband remains competitive but should benefit from new plans in FY'27, and it was confident the first data center earn-out tranche should be met.