Spark New Zealand returns to profit growth in H1 FY26

Spark New Zealand (ASX:SPK) has signaled a turnaround in its financial trajectory, reporting a return to profit growth for the first half of FY26.

Despite a marginal dip in reported revenue to NZ$1.89 billion (down 1.2%), the telecommunications giant saw its reported net profit after tax grew by a staggering 82.9% to NZ$64 million.

The recovery was primarily fueled by the company’s "SPK-30" strategy, which emphasises rigorous cost management and a focus on high-value mobile services.

While legacy service revenues declined, Spark’s core growth engines showed resilience.

Mobile service revenue rose 1.6% to NZ$499 million, bolstered by strong performance in the SME and consumer monthly segments.

Cloud revenue increased 1.7% as businesses scaled their public cloud usage.

Cost-out initiatives delivered NZ$51 million in net savings, effectively offsetting revenue headwinds.

CEO Jolie Hodson attributed the momentum to focused execution, noting that the company is transitioning its investment profile.

Spark invested NZ$54 million in strategic capex into data centres, while scaling back 5G rollout spending as the technology matures.

Free cash flow saw a massive 84% boost, reaching NZ$107 million.

Confident in its trajectory, the board declared an interim dividend of 8 NZ cents per share and reaffirmed its full-year EBITDAI guidance of NZ$1.01 billion to NZ$1.02 billion.