Chorus's chief executive said the company had coped with tougher economic times and restrained consumer spending, as it looked to become an all-fibre operation. Photo: RNZ
Telecommunications company Chorus posted a modest half-year profit on the back of a lift in sales and connections to its fibre network, and lower costs.
Key numbers for the six months ended December 2025 compared with a year ago:
- Net profit $15m vs loss $5m
- Revenue $506m vs $500m
- Expenses $149m vs $154m
- Guidance full year operating earnings top end of $710m-$730m
- Interim dividend 24 cents per share vs 23 cps
Chief executive Mark Aue said the company had coped with the tougher economic times and restrained consumer spending, as it looked to become an all-fibre operation.
"We have a clear aspiration to become a simplified all fibre business with 80 percent uptake by 2030, and this result is a culmination of the work we've done over recent years to reshape Chorus ... we are focused on growth, simplicity and efficiency."
Chorus added about 31,000 new fibre connections taking its total to 1.13 million, about 72 percent of the households in the regions in which it operates.
At the same time it disconnected 60,000 copper phone lines and expected to clear the remaining 3000 in its territory by the middle of the year.
Fibre broadband revenue was higher while Chorus reduced its operating costs.
Aue said the Chorus network was delivering faster connection speeds because of demand from businesses and households for cloud services, multi device use, and artificial intelligence.
However, he said it was also taking steps to cater for a large number of households who could not afford to connect.
"Nearly 400,000 households cannot afford a package of meaningful digital access - a challenge felt in every region and community across the country."
He said Chorus was launching what it called "Equity Fibre", which would be available to households meeting affordability and need-based criteria.
Aue also said fibre was proving its worth in bad weather events, with fewer faults and quicker repair times.
The company said it did not anticipate any significant change arising from the government's decision to sell $643m worth of debt securities issued to finance Chorus's roll out of the broadband network.
Forsyth Barr analyst Benjamin Crozier said the result was a "solid" one helped by stronger than expected cost controls.
