Tower sale boosts Spark NZ profit
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The news: Telecoms company Spark New Zealand has more than doubled profit and lifted sales, boosted by the sale of its TowerCo business.
The numbers: Statutory profit for the year to 30 June jumped 177% to NZD1.14 billion ($1.06 billion) following the NZD911 million sale of a 70% stake in the TowerCo business. Excluding the one-off sale, profit was up 5.6% to NZD433 million while revenue increased 5.1% to NZD3.9 billion. The company will pay a full-year dividend of 27 NZ cents, up 2 cents on last year.
The context: Spark announced the stake sale of its TowerCo business to the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan following a strategic review of its infrastructure assets, and it has used part of the proceeds for a NZD350 million share buyback. The company expects earnings to rise to NZD1.21 billion-NZD1.26 billion in FY24.
The source: ASX announcement
