Spark chair says FY26 results show business heading the right way

Spark New Zealand came in within guidance on every FY26 measure, Chair Vince Hawksworth told shareholders at the annual meeting in Auckland on Friday, pointing to renewed growth in mobile service revenue and a free cash flow rise of 18.5 per cent to $308 million. Speaking as Chair for the first time, Hawksworth said the results were "not end goals in themselves, but they are important indicators that the business is moving in the right direction."

Adjusted revenue held steady at $3.7 billion. Adjusted EBITDAI slipped 2.4 per cent to $1.035 billion, and adjusted net profit after tax eased 0.9 per cent to $225 million. The Board set a full-year dividend of 16 cents a share, made up of an 8 cent final payment that is 50 per cent imputed.

Hawksworth said selling a 75 per cent interest in the data centre business brought in net proceeds of about $462 million and put net debt back at target levels. Spark holds on to a 25 per cent stake in Ten Peaks. The strategic review of Digital Services, which spans cloud, IT services, data and AI, is still under way, and the next update is due with half year results in February. He also paid tribute to outgoing Chair Justine Smyth, who sat on the Board for 15 years, seven of them leading it.

Chief Executive Jolie Hodson said total mobile revenue grew 4.4 per cent, while mobile service revenue rose 1.1 per cent to $998 million. Hodson called this "an important signal of Spark moving from stabilisation back toward growth". She pointed to the October launch of Spark Upgrader, which has attracted more than 34,000 registrations, a 40 per cent increase in handset volumes over the iPhone 18 season, and a Skinny tie-up with Woolworths' Everyday Rewards. Hodson said only 54 per cent of broadband customers also use Spark for mobile, which she saw as a natural opportunity to grow.

Hodson said Opensignal again named Spark as having New Zealand's best 5G network, with six outright category wins and three shared, and that customer satisfaction rose for a sixth year in a row. Spark Satellite, launched in April 2026, has connected more than 237,000 customers, who have used over 7.1 million megabytes of data and sent more than 323,000 text messages over satellite. Productivity benefits reached $40 million, and the IoT business now has 2.5 million connected devices.

Spark left FY27 guidance as it was, with adjusted EBITDAI of $1.01 billion to $1.08 billion, free cash flow of $300 million to $350 million and BAU capital expenditure of $350 million to $380 million. The target dividend is 16 to 18 cents a share, based on paying out 90 to 100 per cent of free cash flow, subject to Board approval. Hawksworth said economic activity remains subdued, though he hopes consumer and business confidence will keep stabilising and growing.