Spark New Zealand predicted mobile service revenue to grow 5 per cent in the year to end-June 2024 after booking subscriber and ARPU gains in fiscal 2023, which ran to 30 June.

CEO Jolie Hodson stated Spark completed a three-year strategy in a strong position and with momentum in key markets.

“We have a clear plan for the next three years and the ability to invest to develop new revenue streams.”

Fiscal 2023 net profit nearly tripled year-on-year to NZD1.1 billion ($652.4 million), attributed partly to gains from a sale of its tower business and exit from Spark Sport.

Revenue grew 20.7 per cent to NZD4.5 billion, though the rise was 5.1 per cent to NZD3.9 billion excluding the above gains.

Mobile service revenue increased 9 per cent to NZD980 million, aided by a rebound in roaming.

Prepaid ARPU grew 3.2 per cent to NZD16.89 and post-paid 2.3 per cent to NZD41.54.

Contract subscribers grew 5 per cent to 1.5 million and prepaid 15 per cent to 1.2 million.

Cloud, security, and service management revenue fell 2.2 per cent to NZD436 million, impacted by a shift from private to public options and service management activity normalising.

Broadband revenue fell 2 per cent to NZD626 million.

IoT revenue grew 33 per cent to NZD122 million, with connections up 76 per cent to 1.5 million.

It expects connections to hit 2 million by the close of fiscal 2024.

Spark deployed standalone 5G in 77 locations: it aims to connect all towns with a population greater than 1,500 by the end-June 2026.

Capex increased 25.6 per cent to NZD515 million, with guidance of between NZD510 million and NZD530 million for fiscal 2024.