Spark reins back ‘broader ambition’ after 17% profit drop and 1300 jobs cut

Wednesday, 20 August 2025

Spark cut about 1300 jobs during the year, leaving it with just over 4000 employees.

Spark has reported a 17% drop in its annual net profit to $260 million and its board has approved a five-year strategy that will see it move away from “a broader digital services ambition”.

Chairperson Justine Smyth described the past year as “one of the most challenging periods in Spark’s history”.

Its results announcement revealed it cut about 1300 jobs during the 12 months to the end of June, leaving it with just over 4000 staff.

Spark’s share price has halved over the past two years to $2.48, thereby also halving its sharemarket value to $4.7 billion.

The company’s new strategy would see Spark focus on its “core business of connectivity”, Smyth said.

Its profit drop for the year to the end of June was even worse, at 34%, on a “non-adjusted” basis, which the company said provided a “better like for like comparison with the previous financial year.

Despite its challenges, the company reported a smaller reduction in its total annual dividend, which will fall to 25 cents a share for the financial year, from 27½c previously.

Jolie Hodson has set a date for the telco letting mobile customers stay in touch when out of normal coverage zones by using so-called cellphone towers in the sky.

The company said it intended to pay out all of its free cash flow in the current financial year, which started in July, in dividends, next year.

Chief executive Jolie Hodson said Spark would continue to invest in delivering “a reliable and trusted network that is there when it matters for our customers”.

“Our business fundamentals remain strong. We are the market leader in mobile and broadband, our customer satisfaction has increased five years running,” she said.

She also promised it would begin providing satellite-based mobile connectivity by June next year.

That would see it join One NZ, which has been using Starlink to provide a way for smartphone owners to send and receive texts in areas where it doesn’t have traditional mobile coverage since December.

Spark’s revenues for the year to the end of June fell 2.5% to just over $3.7b.

Its broadband revenues declined 1% and its mobile service revenues fell 2.3%.