Markets with Madison: Spark doesn’t want whole cyclone rebuild bill

Spark shouldn’t be on the hook for the whole bill to make the telecommunications network more resilient, its chief executive Jolie Hodson says.

Speaking on Markets with Madison, Hodson said the Government, power companies and other telecommunications companies should share the cost of putting more generators in the regions and creating additional battery power sources to make the cellular network more reliable.

“No one company, no one sector can look to fund that.”

About 150 of Spark’s cell sites went dark for a few days when Cyclone Gabrielle hit, mostly because they relied on power to run, not because they suffered infrastructure damage.

Spark’s half year result released this week showed a 367 per cent lift in net profit to $837 million, following the sale of a majority stake in its cell tower assets for $911m.

It would return some of that capital to shareholders through a $350m share buyback.

It also provisioned to spend $52 million for the rights to TVNZ sports content, after the sale of its failed Spark Sport platform to the broadcaster.

Air New Zealand also announced a bumper half year profit, with the airline officially back in black with a $213m net profit and more than $3 billion in revenue for the six months to December.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank hiked the official cash rate by 0.5 per cent this week, taking the wholesale cost of borrowing to 4.75 per cent.

Milford Asset Management investment analyst Katlyn Parker explained why the move should not result in higher mortgage rates.

Get investment analysis and insights from the experts on Markets with Madison every Monday and Friday on the NZ Herald.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this programme is of a general nature, and is not intended to be personalised financial advice. We encourage you to seek appropriate advice from a qualified professional to suit your individual circumstances.