Christchurch’s council-owned companies post $206m profit

Saturday, 20 September 2025

ANALYSIS: Christchurch’s investment company, which is owned by the city council on behalf of ratepayers, has delivered one of its strongest results in years, lifting its profit to $206 million.

Christchurch City Holdings Ltd (CCHL) owns the city’s major commercial assets, including 75% of Christchurch Airport, Lyttelton Port, Orion and Enable Networks.

The profit includes a one-off $54m gain from increasing the value of Lyttelton Port’s land and buildings. That helped push the result up to $206m, but if you leave it out, the underlying profit - the amount actually earned from running the businesses - was $159m, up from $111m last year. That’s a 43% increase.

Its payout to the council rose slightly, from $50.7m to $55m. That 8.5% increase matched what was set in advance in CCHL’s current Statement of Intent.

This stronger financial position gives CCHL more options - to invest, reduce debt, to borrow on better terms, or to keep dividends flowing to the council. For ratepayers, it may help ease pressure on future budgets, even if the gains aren’t felt immediately.

Where the profits came from

Lyttelton Port Company made the biggest gain, with a $72m profit, up from $10m last year. Most of that came from a boost in the value of port land and buildings. Its actual trading profit was $25.2m, which was still well up on the year before.

The result comes as the port continues early-stage planning for an estimated $800m redevelopment, which may influence future land use and asset values. The port is due to present its business case to CCHL next month.

Christchurch Airport also bounced back strongly, posting a $75m profit. That was more than triple last year’s result of $23m and was driven by rising passenger numbers and increased income from the airport’s commercial property portfolio.

Electricity distributor Orion doubled its profit, from $12m to $24m. Enable Networks, which manages the city’s fibre broadband infrastructure, lifted its profit from $34m to $41m through steady demand and tight cost control.

Even Citycare, which provides public infrastructure services, increased its profit to $13m, despite a drop in revenue.

The increase in profit and asset value will not yet directly flow back to ratepayers, the ultimate owners of the council’s commercial assets. That is because the dividend for the current financial year, $55m, was set in advance through CCHL’s 2024–25 Statement of Intent, finalised in mid-2024.

The dividend still represents a significant contribution to council finances. It can be used to support infrastructure, public services or reduce pressure on rates.

That dividend is set to increase to $65m in 2026 and remain at that level through to 2028, according to CCHL’s latest planning documents.

Stronger balance sheet for CCHL

The value of the council’s shareholdings in its commercial companies rose 17% during the year, increasing from $3.5 billion to $4.1b. That growth was largely driven by stronger results from its subsidiaries and a revaluation of port assets.

Separately, the group’s total assets, including land, infrastructure, cash and equipment, reached $6.3b. CCHL also spent $294m on new infrastructure and reported total borrowings of $2.4b.

Based on the full profit figure, the group delivered a return of 3.3% on total assets and a 13.1% profit margin on revenue. But these assets are more than just financial performers, they are also strategic holdings that support the region’s infrastructure, provide essential services and sustain thousands of jobs.

These figures show that the council-owned companies are becoming more valuable. CCHL now manages more of the region’s key infrastructure, including electricity lines, broadband networks, port facilities and airport land.

The figures released represent unaudited results. CCHL’s full annual report is due by the end of the month.