TVNZ looks to resume dividends

Kevin Kenrick, chief executive of TVNZ in Auckland. Photo / Richard Robinson

Television New Zealand, the state-owned broadcaster, expects to resume dividend payments next year, having gained approval to halt payments in fiscal 2014 while refurbishing its main building on Victoria St West.

The Government has forgone dividend payments of about $22 million in total in the past two years to allow TVNZ to overhaul its main building, consolidating all its workers on to the single site, after the broadcaster agreed to sell two other sites to SkyCity for $10.6 million. That deal gave SkyCity the land it needed to build a convention centre in exchange for increased gambling concessions.

Chief executive Kevin Kenrick told Parliament's commerce committee that his expectation is for stronger demand for advertising in the six months ending June 30, after a drop in ad revenue in the first half contributed to a 5 per cent decline in profit. He said the general election in September had contributed to weaker first-half ad sales.