I would now like to hand the conference over to Ms. Jolie Hodson, CEO. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Good morning, and thank you for joining us today for Spark's half-year results for the period ending 31 December 2025. This morning, I'll provide an overview of our performance and progress we've made under our new Spark 30 strategy. I'll then hand over to our CFO, Stewart Taylor, who will take you through the financials in more detail before we open for questions. Before turning to the results, a brief word on the broader operating environment. Through the first half, the New Zealand economy showed signs of finding its footings. While conditions were still mixed, consumer activity improved, and there was a growing sense of stability as the period progressed. That backdrop supports the progress we're seeing in our business, particularly in consumer, and gives us confidence as we move into the second half.
With that context, I'll now turn to slides three and four to summarize our financial performance. So in terms of the difference between our reported and adjusted results, adjusted revenue and EBITDA include the data center business for both H1 FY 2026 and H1 FY 2025. Adjusted EBITDA excludes NZD 9 million of DC sale transaction costs in H1 2026, which will form part of the gain on sale calculation to be reported in FY 2026 and the Spark 30 transformation costs incurred in H1 FY 2025. I'm now gonna speak to our adjusted numbers, as these provide the best like-for-like, year-on-year performance comparison. In a mixed demand environment, Spark delivered a clear step-up in profitability in the first half. Adjusted revenue of NZD 1.917 billion was down 1.1%, or NZD 22 million.
Around half, or NZD 10 million, of this decline was driven by the divestment of Digital Island in FY25. The remaining decline driven by muted business project spending and service management and legacy voice. This was more than offset by improving mobile service revenue and disciplined execution of our cost-out program, delivering a 5.1% increase in adjusted EBITDA to NZD 471 million. Adjusted NPAT of NZD 73 million was up 30.4%, driven mainly by higher EBITDA. Free cash flow strengthened to NZD 107 million, up 84%, reflecting the operating leverage in the business as performance improved, driven by higher EBITDA and the reduction of cash tax payments. Stewart will provide more detail on the free cash flow for the half and full year shortly.
Capital expenditure for the half was NZD 271 million, including NZD 54 million of strategic CapEx used to secure the data center land in line with guidance. BAU CapEx of NZD 217 million was down 8.8% on the prior year as our five-year rollout matured. The board's declared an interim dividend of NZD 0.08 per share, 50% imputed. Turning now to mobile on slides five to seven. Spark's total mobile service revenue grew 1.6% as performance continued to improve, and we saw positive momentum across the key underlying drivers of value. In consumer and SME, pay-monthly connections were broadly flat, while ARPU grew 5%, driven by product innovation, plan refreshes, and increased competitiveness of high-value plans and improved mix.
We also saw a 15% uplift in pay-monthly mobile acquisitions with interest-free payments, consistent with attracting high-value customers and supporting stronger retention. In consumer prepaid, connections stabilized in our highest value segment of New Zealand packs, which accounts for around 90% of our revenue, following recent plan refreshes and targeted promotional activity. Prepaid ARPU was down slightly, reflecting the competitive dynamics of this segment. However, with a stabilizing base, we have a strong platform to grow ARPU over time, both through cross and upsell, as further products and offers are launched. The Skinny prepaid New Zealand base grew 2%, driven by strong uptake of long-term plans launched during the half. In enterprise and government, connections and ARPU further stabilized since the close of FY 25.
We won more business than we lost during the half, with a small connection decline driven by fleet shrinkage and the 3G shutdown. Pressure on ARPU remains; however, the rate of decline continued to moderate, with H1 FY26 ARPU down 7.8% year-on-year, compared to a 13.4% decline at the end of FY25. In the context of the broader market, Spark's mobile service revenue grew at a slower rate than the market, resulting in a small contraction of 0.5 percentage point of share. The highest growth during the six months was in the MVNO segment, of which Spark accounts for around 40% of connections. Our revenue growth in this segment was consistent with the MVNO market growth. Overall, we remain market leader by some distance, and our focus is on growing this leadership ahead.
On that note, as we look ahead to the second half, we have a strong pipeline of activity that will support continued momentum in mobile, and that's outlined on slide eight. A few notable examples include the rollout of text and data satellite to mobile capability in H2, including calling over satellite-enabled apps like WhatsApp. A refreshed international roaming product set designed to compete more effectively in an increasingly competitive eSIM market and deliver better experiences for our customers. And a new My Spark app experience to further cement our CX leadership with clearer usage information, easier self-service, and enhanced support. If I move now to slide nine, across our broader connectivity and IT portfolio, performance reflected a tough market alongside areas of resilience and progress. While broadband connections were down in a competitive market, revenues remained stable at NZD 303 million, as increasing fiber costs were passed through.
Wireless broadband remains a clear opportunity as 5G continues to mature, and we explore bundling with mobile. Voice revenue was down 16.7%, and that's consistent with the long-term decline of this legacy product. Other connectivity products was down 10.4%. About a third of this reduction was driven by the divestment of Digital Island, and the balance primarily driven by managed data and networks as customers continue to transition away from legacy products to lower ARPU alternatives. In IT, cloud revenue grew 1.7%, reflecting the continued customer migration from private cloud and expansion by existing public cloud customers. Service management remained challenging, with revenue declining 19.7% as businesses continue to defer or scale back larger projects. Our cost program continued to deliver material benefits in the first half, as outlined on Slide 10.
The program underpinned the improvement we saw in EBITDA and free cash flow during the half. New network and technology partnerships have been effectively embedded into our operations during the half and are on track to achieve their forecast benefits. Overall, we achieved NZD 51 million in net cost savings, reflecting NZD 55 million of net labor cost reductions from the changes made in calendar 2025. NZD 12 million in product cost reductions, which were originally envisioned to fall in other OpEx, partially offset by a NZD 16 million net increase in other OpEx, primarily driven by NZD 11 million of increased marketing spend to support business growth and costs associated with our new technology delivery model.
So looking to the second half, the mix of savings shifts, as the majority of FY 25 labor reductions have now been realized, while product cost savings continue and we absorb the full year impact of our technology delivery model and inflationary cost pressures. Overall, we remain on track to deliver the multi-year productivity benefits previously outlined, with the FY 26 cost out target narrowed to NZD 40 million-NZD 50 million, supporting EBITDA growth and enabling reinvestment in network and customer experience. As outlined on Slide seven, our network and customer experiences are a strategic priority in line with the Spark 30 strategy. During the half, we extended our 4G coverage leadership position to also include 5G, as independently rated by Opensignal.
This was supported by more than 100 site builds and upgrades and the transition of network traffic to our 5G standalone core, delivering improvements and peak speeds of around 75%. We also introduced new network safety features, including automated blocking of malicious websites, while working with Aduna to explore further use cases in this space for the future. Our measure of customer satisfaction, iNPS, rose 5 points year-on-year, driven by simplified journeys, faster support, and improved digital experiences within our app. Our AI program is accelerating our network and CX ambitions, delivering improved network efficiency, faster speed to market for new products, and quicker resolution of complex challenges for our customers. Sustainability remains embedded in the way we operate, and we continue to make progress towards our ambitions, as outlined in Slide 12.
Our Scope one and two emissions are 32% lower than the path required in H1 to meet our 2030 emissions reduction target, and that reflects the benefits of our solar energy partnership and the improved grid mix. Our focus on ethical supply chain management continued to mature, and digital inclusion remains a priority, with Skinny Jump now supporting more than 34,500 households nationwide. Shortly after the close of the half, we completed our data center transaction, which is summarized on Slide 13. As you'll be aware, Spark has retained a 25% stake in the new standalone entity, now named TenPeaks Data Centers. This provides Spark with ongoing exposure to significant long-term growth opportunities in the market with strong structural tailwinds.
Spark received initial cash proceeds of approximately NZD 453 million, with up to NZD 98 million in deferred proceeds contingent on performance milestones through 2027. The proceeds strengthen our balance sheet and provide additional financial flexibility as we execute our strategy. Slide 14, we've provided an update on how we're tracking against our FY 30 ambitions. At the half year, our Spark 30 ambitions remain on track. Financially, we delivered growth in EBITDA, NPAT, and free cash flow, supported by cost discipline and improving mobile performance. Looking at our non-financial ambitions, we've strengthened the foundations of long-term value, including network coverage leadership, a 5-point lift in iNPS, rising employee engagement, and continued progress on our sustainability commitments. I'm now going to hand over to Stewart to speak to the financial results in more detail.
Thanks very much, Jolie, and good morning, everyone. I'm going to start with Slides 16 and 17, which summarize the result, probably focusing more on slide 16. So we've got our reported result on the left-hand side of Slide 16. Now, this excludes our data center business from the headline EBITDA and top-line P&L numbers. The net earnings contribution booked as a one-liner in that discontinued operation line, which you'll see there called out as a separate line just above total net earnings after tax expense. So for the adjusted results, the data center contribution is actually included in the applicable P&L lines, rather than being classified as a discontinued operation, hence why you don't see any numbers in that line for the adjusted numbers. So looking at growth rates, reported EBITDA was up 10% in H1 2026 versus H1 2025.
The equivalent growth rate of 5% for adjusted EBITDA growth over the same period here. The difference here largely due to the lower H1 2025 reported earnings base, given the data center adjustments and the transformation costs, which were booked in the H1 of 2025. Just for clarity, so the discontinued earnings of NZD 10 million showed a significant increase on the previous comparable period. This was because the data assets held for sale were no longer being depreciated in H1 2026. I'll now move over to slide 18, and I'll talk to capital expenditure. So you'll see in H1 2026, on the right-hand side there, so the right-hand column there, total CapEx was NZD 271 million, and that excludes spend on spectrum.
This was NZD 19 million, or 8% higher than the prior comparable period, and the key driver of that increase has been the NZD 54 million in strategic CapEx, associated with the data center business. This is something we outlined in our guidance at the beginning of this year. So if I exclude that strategic CapEx, Spark's BAU CapEx was 9%, or NZD 21 million lower than in H1 25. Now, this reflects lower network spend, so our 5G rollout's matured. We've had been through a period of accelerated spend there, and our spend on IT systems, fixed networks, and international cable capacity has been broadly consistent with that in 1H25. Now, in the first half of this year, we've also reported NZD 7 million spend on new spectrum. This is the net present value of 18-year rights we acquired from Tū Ātea for 20 MHz of 5G spectrum.
Now, looking forward, with the exception of NZD 1 million spent on the data center business in January before that transaction completed, we are not expecting any further strategic CapEx going into H2. Looking forward to H2, the focus of capital expenditure and beyond will be on projects that align with our SPK 30 strategy and drive our core connectivity business. We'll also be taking the discipline we've employed in H1 forward, and we remain on track to deliver to FY 2026 BAU CapEx within our guidance range of NZD 380 million-NZD 410 million. This implies that H2 2026 BAU CapEx will be in the range of NZD 163 million-NZD 193 million. Moving to the free cash flow page, this is slide 19.
Again, we remain focused on the conversion of earnings to free cash flow, given the importance this plays in determining our dividend. So overall, free cash from H1 26 was NZD 107 million. This was 84% higher than H1 25, and this was impacted predominantly by two lines in the table that you can see on the right-hand side there. The first is the 10% increase in reported EBITDA between periods. The second is a second significant reduction in cash tax paid, which is largely related to timing and would normalize in the second half of the year. Just running through this, note that year- on- year, there was an increase in cash paid on leases.
This is because the H1 25 payment was lower than we'd have expected, due to a one-off cash benefit from the corporate office move to 50 Albert Street at the end of calendar 2024. Now, near the end of December, we announced the sale of our interest-free payments or our IFP receivable book for NZD 240 million. The positive impact of this sale has been adjusted from the free cash flow number, and this has been done net of growth in the IFP book since the start of the year, which was around NZD 27 million. And having entered into a finance agreement with Challenger on the IFP book, we will undertake regular sales of that book going forward, which means we can continue to grow this book without impacting our working capital balance.
Again, importantly, remain on track to meet our FY 2026 free cash flow guidance of NZD 290 million-NZD 330 million, and this does imply an H2 weighting of free cash flow, which will be driven by our EBITDA profile in the second half, lower CapEx in the second half, an improvement to our working capital balance, and this will be partially offset in the second half by higher cash tax payments. So if I go to slide. If I go to slide 20, debt and dividends, what we've seen is an overall reduction, a further reduction in the overall level of net debt in the last six months. This has been supported by the sale of the IFP book and offset in part by higher strategic CapEx.
So if I exclude leases, next, net debt now sits at NZD 1.39 billion, 5% lower than at 30 June 2025. The net debt to EBITDA ratio is steady at 2.2. This isn't materially impacted by the sale of the IFP book. Now, you'll see in the chart on this slide that we've put a bar over on the far right there, indicating what we consider to be our pro forma debt position as at the end of January 2026, based on the completion of the data center transaction.
Now, as a result of that net debt, ex leases reduces by NZD 453 million to around NZD 940 million, but more importantly, our net debt to EBITDA ratio would be reduced to around that 1.7 level, which is consistent with that required for our targeted credit rating. The final point to note here is our interim dividend of NZD 0.08 per share, and this is based off our full-year free cash flow guidance. The interim dividend has been imputed at 50% as we seek to bring that imputation credit balance back to a sustainable level and manage our balance sheet as efficiently as possible. Slide 21, we've outlined our key debt metrics. I'll note two things briefly here. Firstly, the absolute amount of debt we carry forward will lead to lower interest costs.
However, some of this benefit will be moderated by the residual by our residual debt profile. Secondly, interest cover based on our EBITDA over financing costs remains very healthy at eight times. Now, finally, from me, the slide 22, which is reaffirming our FY 2026 guidance, and given the completion of the data center transaction, we've obviously focused our guidance on excluding DC earnings from the last 5 months of the financial year. In all cases, the guidance has not changed since we supplied it to the market in August last year. One thing we have done is we've updated the strategic CapEx to NZD 55 million, having completed the sale of DCs. Again, this reflects the NZD 54 million we spent in H1 2026 and an extra NZD 1 million we spent in the month of January.
Importantly, we retain our EBITDA guidance of NZD 1,010 million-NZD 1,070 million, which if I took the midpoint at 1,040, would imply a more normal first half to second half earning split of 45%, 55%. On that, I will hand back to Jolie to provide a final summary.
Thanks, Stewart. So to summarize, despite softer market conditions persisting in parts of the portfolio, Spark delivered a clear step-up in performance during the half. Our strategic focus on core connectivity is gaining traction. Mobile showed clear signs of momentum, with ARPU strengthening and connections stabilizing, while broadband revenue remains stable. Our cost reduction program delivered material benefits, and when combined with mobile, supported a return to EBITDA, NPAT, and free cash flow growth. The drivers of our market outperformance, our network and customer experiences continued to strengthen and differentiate Spark. The completion of our data center transaction in January has reduced net debt back to targeted levels for H2.
There's more work to do, but this progress reinforces our confidence in the strategic direction we set under Spark 30 strategy, and Spark's becoming a more focused, efficient and resilient business, well-positioned for the second half and beyond. We're now going to open the floor to questions, so I'll hand back to the operator.
Thank you. If you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. If you wish to cancel your request, please press star two. If you're on a speakerphone, please pick up the handset to ask your question. Your first question comes from Entcho Raykovski with E&P. Please go ahead.
Morning, Jolie. Morning, Stewart. My first question is just around the cost out target for the full year. I guess given that you've effectively delivered the cost out target in the first half, but the top end of the full year cost out guidance is unchanged, can you talk about the expected uplift in other OpEx in the second half, which offsets any further cost savings? And if you can, sort of, as part of that question, if you can talk to whether that then trends into FY 2027, because I presume that there will be some carryover. Thank you.
Okay, thanks, Entcho. Maybe I'll kick off, and then if Stewart's got anything he wants to add. So if you're looking at the overall savings reductions that you saw in the first half, we obviously saw a number of labor changes in the back half of FY 25. So we had the benefits flow through that in 26. While there's still some simplification work, we also have costs like severances and other things that will sit within our existing costs for this year. So what we've done is delivered upfront the labor savings, the product cost savings, and other OpEx. So if you look forward then, what are some of the things that are impacting the second half? Well, we've cycled, as I said, quite a bit of that labor savings. We had a lower H2 last year off the back of that.
Our new network technology delivery model that always had reduction in labor, but increase in some of the other OpEx costs. And then, like every business, there's some inflationary costs within it. So really what we're saying is, over the year, we'd expect to deliver in that 40-50 range around our cost program. We have achieved most of that in that first half. Sorry, the other thing I just would call out is, marketing would normalize in the second half as well. So we had an upweighted investment of around NZD 11 million in the first half, but we'd already lifted that in the second half of 2025, so we don't have that same flow-through in the second half of 2026.
All right. Thank you.
And if I think maybe just for, to the second part around 27, like any business, we'll continue to have simplification that we will be looking at, that looks at both use of technology, what we're doing around both our product and, our business overall. So that doesn't sort of indicate that we've run out of costs to focus on. It's really more if we think about what's happened in the year, we've already delivered most of the costs that we needed to within that.
Okay, great. Thanks, Jolie. And so, my second question is just around wireless broadband. Subs were marginally down in the half, half on half. I guess, is that a reflection of the fixed wireless market as a whole, or are you perhaps seeing some share losses in wireless broadband? And I think you've talked about a plan refresh.
Mm.
In the second half. Are you able to give us any more color around what you're planning?
Yes. I think if you look at the overall position of wireless broadband, we do have very strong, way above our ambient share of our market share. So and it's a competitive marketplace, so as others look to compete in that space, we would expect that you would see potentially some movement in that. With the plans, we have looked at refreshing both price and the products that we bundle that with as well. So that's what we would expect to see in the second half. The other thing also, of course, is as 5G rollout continues, you have a broader addressable market to consider within that, and therefore the ability to lift up those wireless broadband connections as well within that.
Okay, thank you. And my final question's around mobile. The recovery you're reporting, particularly in consumer and SME, are you seeing some of the competitive intensity coming out of the mobile market? Or is it perhaps driven by that economy stabilizing that you've talked about? I suppose if you can sort of expand on what you're seeing on the competitive front from the other operators.
I think if you think about the broader economy, obviously, as that stabilizes and starts to improve, that has a flow on effect. There's a range of things from that that impact that. If we think about competition, I don't think we're in any less competitive marketplace, but what we have seen with some of the plan changes we've done, the overall value offering we've got. We've seen people stepping up in terms of-- in the plans, the mixed over 65-dollar plans growing within that reporting period. We also saw quite a strong IFP sale, and the work we've done around our IFP as well, in terms of. Sorry, when I say IFP sale, the Apple launch, you know, the new handset launch, and linked to that, the step up in IFP within that.
We're seeing customers generally just looking for more value, but also the opportunity to spend around that. So that, that's where the improvement's been in SME and consumer. I think in enterprise, what we have seen probably is, while it's still a competitive market, much of that change that particularly was ARPU-led, has been reflected in the base during 2025. And then we have seen, we did expect to see some in 2026, and we have done, but that is stabilizing as well, and connections have within that.
Okay, great. Thanks, Jolie.
Thanks.
Your next question comes from Phil Campbell with UBS. Please go ahead.
Yeah, morning, Jolie. Morning, Stewart. Just three quick questions from me. I just wanted to maybe ask a question, Jolie, just kind of, you know, standing back a little bit. Obviously, there's been quite a lot of change going on in Spark in the last kind of 12-18 months. A lot of headcount reduction and obviously the new focus on connectivity and the new rebranding. And just kind of from your perspective, like, how are you feeling internally, like in terms of the morale of the business? You're feeling as though you're getting some momentum back, you know, after that period of kind of change and disruption?
Yeah, I mean, we have come through a period of significant change, both in the marketplace, but in our organization. The new strategy, I think, has given us a very clear focus on core connectivity, which is really at the heart of what we do, and within that, mobile. I think people's excitement around the opportunity to continue to invest and see that grow, and we're seeing that in those early results within that, is lifting both engagement and the overall, I guess, feeling within the organization. You can see that too, in some of the non-financial metrics that we put up in terms of the increase we've had in engagement over the last half. So yes, we feel like we are focused on the right things. We are seeing progress in marketplace and our people are engaged with that.
Okay, awesome. Just a quick question for Stewart. Just on the data center final payment. Obviously, that was about NZD 33 million lower than what was announced kind of middle of last year. I'm assuming that was due to the fact that the CapEx was a bit slow, but then when I look at the CapEx numbers being reported today, it doesn't really feel as though the CapEx was much lower. So I just wanted to get an explanation as to what's driving, you know, what, what am I missing there in terms of that NZD 33 million difference in the proceeds?
Yeah, no, I think broadly, Phil, you're spot on. So, I think when we guided in August, we guided to a range on that CapEx, and so the initial purchase price was based on the top end of that strategic CapEx range. And those were. I mean, and much of that money was spent on or was commitments that we'd made on land purchases, so, you know, form part of that transaction perimeter. I mean, there'll be other small adjustments there in terms of various working capital balances, employee liabilities, and other things, as we sort of work our way through what that final, what, I guess, what that final price is and what the final asset base is that gets transferred.
So just so I think the original guidance was CapEx of NZD 50-NZD 70. You're obviously coming in at, like, NZD 55. So is the kind of balance to that NZD 33, is it just working capital and other stuff that's.
Yeah, I mean, there'll be a series of other purchase price adjustments that we make on in there as well. And you've also. We probably need to consider the fact that we also have transaction costs as well.
Right. Gotcha. Just the last question from me is just wanted to get a sense, when I speak to industry contacts within IT services, what they're saying to me at the moment is, you are seeing a number of New Zealand corporates really kind of starting to get on the AI train and starting to wanting to deploy AI workloads and stuff like that. Then also, I think following that, ManageMyHealth cyber incident, there seemed to be a number of customers, you know, increasingly concerned about cyber, and that was potentially generating some work. I just wondered if you guys are seeing any of that in the market, kind of this side of Christmas?
I think prior to Christmas there is more business activity than there was, but if you think about some of the bigger programs and those sorts of things, we have not seen as much prevalence of that. As we look to the second half, I think some of that activity you know starts to come through. 'Cause also, when you think about the larger sort of IT projects or things we might be involved in, there's a reasonable amount of time to contracting, to then delivery, to. And that's really where in, say, service management, we're seeing the most impact. It's in project work, not the annuity type of work that we have within that place. So I think there are some green shoots, but we are way off being back anywhere close to where it was previously.
Great. Awesome. Thanks.
Thanks. Cool.
Next question comes from Arie Dekker with Jarden. Please go ahead.
Oh, good morning. Thanks. Yeah, first question, just in relation to a couple of areas of guidance, in terms of what's possible in 2027, you know, particularly given, you know, 100% payout of free cash flow for the dividend this year, you know, means that the sustainability of it, you know, is a bit of a tightrope. So the first one, I guess, is you've sort of signaled that the 5G rollout is maturing. Can you give a bit of color as to how much of the FY 2026 BAU CapEx can be removed, you know, in FY 2027 associated with that 5G spend coming off, you know, and any other areas?
I think if you think about it maturing, Arie, in the two years prior, we invested heavily ahead of that. We'd accelerated that, so we'd put, you know, quite a lot more capital investment into both building the standalone core, which we now have stood up, and then also the acceleration. So as we look at 2026, we've already brought that back from where it was in, so both 2025 and 2024, and I think that broadly reflects what I'd say is an ongoing normal level of mobile investment. We'll still have work to do, and I touched on we've got about 100 more sites that we will upgrade or build out in the second half, and that'll continue in 2027. So I don't think mobile will be a significant reduction here.
All we're saying is that in this year, it has slowed a bit from where it was because we'd upweighted that investment.
Any other areas then?
I think across other areas, we'll continue to manage. We've set out the 10%-12% is really a focus for us in terms of the CapEx to revenue, and there's nothing that we're stepping off in relation to that. And I guess in any given year, you can be at one end or the other of that. But given we're not out yet providing sort of 2027 guidance yet, I think probably more that just focus of on 2026 of delivering within what we have set out.
And then in terms of the process for MATTR, which is well underway, I mean, I don't know if you want to give an update on that, so I mean, talk to it in the materials. But you know, in terms of the cash burn there, have you set a drop-dead date, you know, for example, the end of FY 2026, where you know, you'll commit to just closing it down if you can't bring in a party to sort of help fund that, going forward?
I think what we've shared is that we have a process underway. We are focused on it. We will have an update at August to provide on that. I don't have a drop-dead date for that, but clearly, we will be considering all areas of investment that we make in the business, and we'll make an informed decision.
Okay, just moving to the reorganization of the revenue segments and security and high-tech, ex health moving into other connectivity. I mean, can I read into that, that you know, sort of further refining what sits in and out of the perimeter of you know, core versus non-core business? And then I guess ask, you know, if you are progressing towards a strategic review of the non-core IT businesses, you know, comprising you know, I guess what's left, cloud, security, and procurement.
I think, Arie, Stewart here. I think probably it was more just me looking to simplify some of the disclosures. So, in particular, those areas where we probably get we see less questions on and less, you know, less significant in the total, in the total picture. So I wouldn't read much more into it than that.
Perhaps for you, Jolie, you know, is there consideration being given to strategic review of the IT businesses?
I think we indicated when we did the strategy at the end of last year, our first focus is really on simplification of those businesses. We've already made quite a lot of adjustment to operating models that support those, particularly in the labor costs, which you can see flowing through. We will always continue to review all parts of our portfolio to determine whether we are the best owner at any point in time, and that will continue to be the case, whether it's IT services or another component.
Yeah, just a quick one. Just announced in mid-September that a COO was to be appointed. Like, you know, obviously, we're sort of five months on from there. Can you just give any update on the status as to, you know, that they can see it and, you know, which is obviously quite an important one point in the.
We're in the process of that recruitment. We have very competent acting COO at the moment within the business, and when I have something more to share on our process, I'll no doubt update the market.
And then last one for me, just returning to broadband. Just interested in what you see happening in urban versus rural with regards, I guess, churn and also in particular, fixed wireless. So I guess one of the questions I have is: What are you seeing happening, you know, on the conversion of your copper disconnections in rural to fixed wireless, you know, over customers going to Starlink? And, you know, for fixed wireless, is it more competitive now in rural than it is in urban for you because of satellite's growing penetration?
I think it'd be reasonable to assume that there is more competition as satellite, particularly on that copper, removal process or the, or the, you know, loss of copper, connections within that, and therefore, satellite plays a role in solving that. So yes, there's definitely some component of that that is, more competitive in that space. Overall churn rates for, wireless are pretty consistent, and they're consistent with our fiber as well. So it's not that we've got a, a load of customers coming off that. And sequentially, if you look, we've broadly kind of the base has been stable. There's still opportunity out there, but I think as we've talked about, that's linked to further rollout of the 5G.
We are looking at some plan changes within that as well, and we have already made some at that higher end of that around pricing as well. So we will look to continue to compete in that area. But there is no doubt that in rural there would be a little bit more competition than there has been historically.
Great. Thank you.
Thank you.
Your next question comes from Wade Gardiner with Craigs Investment Partners. Please go ahead.
Hi there. Got a couple of questions. Start with the guidance. Small print on slide 22, you say that the data centers were accounted for as an associate for the remainder of FY 2026, but what about for the first half? Does this guidance include the data centers in there for the first half in EBITDA? 'Cause my understanding was the old guidance or this guidance that you gave back in August excluded the data centers.
So the guidance we provided, so adjusted EBITDA includes the first seven months of the data center business on a consolidated basis, and then going forward, as we're a 25% owner of that, we'll obviously account for it, based on our share of associate earnings. Now, the guidance we provided in August had, we had an excluding data centers set of guidance there. And what that did, Wade, is that included six months' worth of the results. I fully consolidated and based on the fact that we were then gonna deconsolidate for the remaining six months. So it's pretty much on a like-for-like basis to that.
Right, bar the one month?
Correct. Yeah, which in the big scheme of things, we don't consider to be material.
Okay. No, no, so my understanding was that the guidance in August excluded the data centers, but,
Yeah
What about.
We provided both, so you can see.
Yeah.
Excluding and including.
Yeah, okay.
But the numbers are consistent, you know, to what we provided for excluding.
Okay.
Yeah.
What about asset sale gains, which were NZD 24 million in the half? And you know, previously, it's, they've sort of run, I mean, I know they jump around a bit, but they've, you know, I'd say typically they run an annual rate of sort of NZD 25 million-NZD 30 million. So, what have you got in there for in the guidance for those sale gains this year?
Yeah, so, I mean, full-year guidance, so the other gains, and this excludes any gain on the data center business. We'd expect that to run at about NZD 30 million this year as well, Wade. So that's what that has been more heavily weighted towards 1H.
As it was last year.
Okay.
Yeah.
So you had 23 last year, you got 24 this year. There's no real change, and neither is there in the end point of about 30, so it's very consistent.
Okay. The enterprise and government connections, can you just sort of, you know. You talk about you've added seven, with, you know, some losses, in the half. What should we assume that happens to ARPU as a result of that?
So ARPU doesn't really change that much as a result of that, because basically, where you see the losses is more so from a low connection, bit of 3G closure and a little bit of fleet shrinkage. So where we've won new customers, they've come on. That's sort of been reflected in our overall forecast of where we thought those ARPU declines would be. So if you think about the end of FY 2025, that ARPU decline was sitting at around 13%. Now it's about 7.8%, so it's moderating because a lot of our book has already experienced some of that change, and we continue to win new customers in marketplace as well.
Okay, so another way to put it, I mean, you went from sort of 13 to 7.8. What are you willing to put a number around or a range around what we were likely to see in the second half for ARPU in that segment?
Well, well, I think you'll still have customers that will renew under new rates over that time. I think keeping it at around about a rate of that sort of 7% across the year is probably about right. 'Cause if you think about it.
Okay
Contracts last for multi years, so they don't all come up at the same time. But we feel like, you know.
Yeah
A large component of the government shift happened last year, not this year.
Okay. Just on slide eight, you know, you talk about a strong pipeline of market activity. How much of that would you, would you argue, is chargeable? You know, where we will, we should see a positive ARPU impact versus, you know, the impact really in, in retentions and connections rather than ARPU?
Well, I think in terms of, well, from an ARPU perspective, we've taken pricing, we've seen mixed improvements. And I think if you think about what some of this help supports, it does help support the higher, value plans. You've got, more to offer in there if you think about satellite, for example. In terms of standalone capabilities, you're looking more at, new forms of enterprise, charging for in relation to those private networks. Because they're generally around distribution-type businesses or where logistics are involved. Roaming, again, that's about, making sure we remain competitive in the marketplace. And, things like the customer experience. So there'll be a range that will be, attract new customers and allow you to support, a shift up into higher plans.
There will be a range of things that is about just maintaining that, that sort of retention of customers, which when you think about our base, and we've got we're about 6%, you know, up to about 5%-6% market share higher than our sort of competitor set, then that's a really important part of what we do as well, in terms of retaining the customers we already have.
Okay, great. Thank you. That's all from me.
Thanks.
Your next question comes from Ben Crozier with Forsyth Barr. Please go ahead.
Morning, team. Just a quick question on guidance. So if we look at rolling twelve-month EBITDA, it's sort of sitting at NZD 1.08 billion. I know there's no DC contribution at least at that EBITDA line in that second half. But if we look at, you know, what the guidance is implying for the second half, at the midpoint, I get sort of -5% year-on-year if we take out the DCs. You know, can you just sort of step through what are the moving parts in the second half, sort of costs and gross profit and maybe in a few of the key revenue lines?
I think so, I mean, the way I look at it, Ben, is that we're going to deliver about 45% of our EBITDA in 1H and about 55% in 2H. So if I look at some of the drivers, I mean, if I look at some of the drivers of that, so some of that will be the benefit of the momentum we've got in the mobile, in the mobile business. There'll also be ongoing, so half on half, we consider we'd continue to see ongoing reductions in labor costs. So we've got the run rate benefit of the FTE reduction in the first half. That flows through to the second half.
If I look on a half-on-half basis, we will have a lower OpEx base in the second half, and we'll also have seen significant reductions in our product costs as well. So we're looking to, we're looking to book some benefits there as well. So there's a broad brush where you'd see that sort of step up half on half.
But you, you're still talking, like, labor cost savings, you know, lower OpEx, but yet, you know, EBITDA, you know, year-on-year is down. Like, as assumed gross profit, then, your budgeting is down year-on-year. Is that fair to assume?
It's I think year-on-year, we'd end up pretty flat, yeah. Adjusting for data centers.
Yeah. And then just, you know, on the sort of legacy business lines, other connectivity, and so if you call out these migration of legacy products to modern lower ARPU solutions, sort of how far through that migration do you think you are? Are we sort of at the start of it? Are we nearing the end? Are we somewhere in halfway in between?
I think it depends on the different products that you're talking about. In service management, we are a reasonable way through. As the customers move across into that, we've been doing that for a period of time. If you look at some of the other areas, like managed data, that will continue to happen as you see the shift from legacy WAN to SD-WAN. So probably, you still got a reasonable, I think maybe a 30%, 40% done and still 60%-70% to go across that. Because when you think about enterprise products, particularly, they're long. You know, you've got customers on longer term contracts. Those changes happen as they renew or move off, but with them often comes a lower cost to supply as well.
Yeah. And maybe just last one on marketing costs. Obviously, stepped up quite a bit of the new brand campaign out there. Is this sort of the level we should expect going forward, or do you think it will revert back to where it was, say, a couple of years ago?
I think it's important to continue to support investment in our brand and business growth. As I sort of flagged, you shouldn't replicate the first half and the second half because we've already stepped that up in the prior year. But if you were to look at a kind of total year investment being the step up you've seen in half one, plus sort of taking H2 2025, that'd give you a good sense of the kind of level.
Yeah. Fair enough. Thank you. That's all from me.
Thanks, Ben.
There are no further questions at this time. I'll now hand back to Ms. Jolie Hodson for closing remarks.
Okay, thank you, everyone, for joining the call and for your ongoing support.