SPARK NEW ZEALAND LIMITED H1 FY18 RESULTS

Spark New Zealand Limited ARBN 050 611 277
Spark City, 167 Victoria Street West, Private Bag 92028, Auckland, New Zealand

SILVANA ROEST
Company Secretary

Client Market Services
NZX Limited
Level 1, NZX Centre
11 Cable Street
Wellington 6011


ASX Market Announcements
Australian Securities Exchange
4th Floor, 20 Bridge Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Australia


21 February 2018

SPARK NEW ZEALAND LIMITED H1 FY18 RESULTS

Dear Sir/Madam

In accordance with the NZSX Listing Rules, I enclose the following for release to the
market in relation to Spark New Zealand Limited’s H1 FY18 results:

1. Appendix 1
2. Half Year Report
3. Appendix 7 (x2)
4. Media Release
5. Investor presentation
6. Detailed financial information

Spark New Zealand’s Managing Director, Simon Moutter, and Chief Financial Officer,
David Chalmers, will discuss the H1 FY18 Results at 10:00am New Zealand time today.

ASX Appendix 3A.1 will follow this release.


Yours sincerely



Silvana Roest
Company Secretary

1
Spark New Zealand Limited
Results for announcement to the market

Basis of Report: Unaudited financial statements
Reporting Period: Six months to 31 December 2017
Previous Reporting Period: Six months to 31 December 2016

Six months
ended
31 December
2017
(NZ$000)
Percentage
change
Operating revenues

1,822,000 Up 1.6%
Earnings before interest, income tax, depreciation and
amortisation

463,000 Down 1.7%
Net earnings for the period attributable to security
holders

172,000 Down 3.4%

Dividends
Amount per security
(NZ$)
Imputed amount per
security
Interim dividend
Interim first half-year ordinary dividend 11.0cps 3.2083cps
1

Interim first half-year special dividend 1.5cps 0.4375cps
2

Total dividend 12.5cps 3.6458cps

Record date 16 March 2018
Payment date 6 April 2018
1
A supplementary dividend of 1.4559 cents per security will be payable to shareholders who are not resident
in New Zealand.
2
A supplementary dividend of 0.1985 cents per security will be payable to shareholders who are not resident
in New Zealand.

Net tangible assets per security
31 December 2017 31 December 2016
Net tangible assets per security NZ$0.18 NZ$0.26

HALF YEAR REPORT 2018
EFFORTLESS EXPERIENCES.
THE NEW NORMAL.

Contents
Performance snapshot 4
Chair and Managing Director report 6
Spark New Zealand performance 12
Spark Home, Mobile & Business 18
Spark Digital 19
Spark Connect & Platforms 20
Spark Ventures & Wholesale 21
Interim financial statements 22
COVER
The True Honey Co.
From mobile plans and devices to mobile apps;
our mobility solutions have helped the team at The
True Honey Co. access their systems remotely and
monitor their hives in the most pristine locations
throughout the North and South Island. “We have
our own beehives, beekeepers, producing every
drop of honey that we package under The True
Honey Co. brand. Then we deliver direct to our
consumers around the globe. With the utilisation of
innovation and technology, it’s allowed me to grow
our business. And I’m very grateful to the team at
Spark for the services they provide.”
– Jim McMillan, The True Honey Co. Founder
Key dates
Half-year results announcement
21 February 2018
Financial year-end
30 June 2018
This report is dated 21 February 2018
and is signed on behalf of the Board
of Spark New Zealand Limited by
Justine Smyth, Chair, and
Simon Moutter, Managing Director.
Justine Smyth Simon Moutter
Chair Managing Director
Spark New Zealand Limited
ARBN 050 611 277

New Zealanders’ expectations of what
technology should deliver have never been
higher. To succeed in this new world Spark must
put more power in our customers’ hands – giving
them smarter, simpler products and services.
People want more freedom – so we’ve ramped
up our wireless initiatives and championed new
technologies to help our customers stay
seamlessly connected wherever they are.
They want more choice – so we’ve broadened
options across our suite of brands to provide a
better digital life no matter what their budget is.
And they want an effortless experience –
so we’ve continued to simplify, automate
and digitise the business, making it easier for
customers to engage with us.
This is the new normal for us: a world where
every day we refine and improve our tech, to
ensure our digital services are a truly useful part
of our customers’ lives. Helping them win the
little victories that add up to something huge.
Page 1

A WIRELESS
WAY OF LIVING
Page 2
Spark New Zealand Half Year Report 2018
We want life in New Zealand to be
better connected, more mobile and
more entertaining than ever before.
45%
of our broadband customers
are on fibre or wireless broadband
technologies.
4.5G
mobile is now live on
38 sites in 30 locations.
104,000
premises on
wireless broadband.
Unlimited
mobile data plan successfully
launched, setting new benchmark
in the market for value.

Page 3

Operating revenues $
1,822M
▲
1.6%
Net earnings $
172 M
▼
3.4%
Capital expenditure $
262M
▲
17. 0 %
Cloud, security and service
management revenue
1
$
181M
▲
17. 5%
Mobile revenue $
635M
▲
8.0%
Broadband revenue $
341M
▼
0.9%
Dividends per share
12 . 5 cents
No change
EBITDA $
463M
▼
1.7%
Performance snapshot
Mobile connections
2,437K
▲
3.6%
1 Spark has revised the categories of operating revenues presented to provide greater
insight into the drivers of business performance. This has resulted in the disaggregation
of the previously reported ‘IT services’ revenue category as summarised on page 32.
Page 4
Spark New Zealand Half Year Report 2018Performance snapshot

Strong growth in mobile
revenues and margins and
highly successful launch of
unlimited mobile data plan
300,000 subscribers to
Lightbox, with new media
platform and services to
launch in April
Simplification of products,
services and plans across the
business gives customers
better value and opens up
access to self-service
Spark App enhancements
allow customers to diagnose
and, in some cases, fix
broadband issues themselves
35 “bots” automating tasks
across business and
proactively solving customer
problems
Nationwide Internet of Things
network roll-out commenced;
expect to provide coverage to
20 urban centres and in key
rural areas by mid-2018
Page 5

The six months to 31 December 2017
have seen Spark embrace a bold
programme of digital transformation,
in line with our strategy.
Spark has continued to invest substantially
in a digital services future, using best-in-class
technology to meet the rising expectations
of our customers. We’ve made real progress
on a number of strategic initiatives, and are
encouraged by this to consider accelerating our
business transformation in the second half.
Financial results
We continue to maintain top-line revenue
growth with H1 FY18 revenues up $29 million,
or 1.6%, to $1.822 billion. This is on the back of
continued strong performance in mobile, up
8.0%; cloud, security and service management,
up 17.5%; and growth associated with the
acquisitions of Ubiquity and Digital Island.
Overall, EBITDA for H1 FY18 declined by
$8 million, or 1.7%, to $463 million. Included in
the H1 FY18 results were $13 million of change
costs as we position the business towards the
lowest cost operator model. With depreciation
and amortisation, interest and tax expenses
relatively flat half-on-half, overall net earnings
declined $6 million, or 3.4%, to $172 million.
Justine Smyth Chair
Simon Moutter Managing Director
Simpler for
our customers,
smarter for
our business.
Page 6
Spark New Zealand Half Year Report 2018Chair and Managing Director report

Progress on strategic initiatives
Towards the end of the previous financial year,
we updated our strategy with the three key
areas of focus that will drive the next phase
of Spark’s transformation, helping us win in
a market where customer experience is the
new source of market power.
First, we are putting a far greater emphasis
on wireless technologies. This means investing
in our mobile network to provide customers
with a seamless digital experience and, where
possible, moving them off the legacy copper
network onto newer, more reliable fibre and
wireless broadband. Second, we are using our
multi-brand strategy to better serve the growing
price-sensitive end of the market, expanding
the products we offer through Skinny and other
brands. Third, we are committed to becoming
the lowest cost operator through simplification,
automation and digitisation initiatives across
the business. On all three of these areas we
have made substantial progress in the first
half of FY18.
We grew mobile revenue and margin with total
mobile ARPU returning to growth for the first
time in two years, up 1.8% on the prior year.
The successful launch of our unlimited mobile
data plan, which set a new benchmark in the
market for value, encouraged pay-monthly
customers to upgrade to this higher value offer,
and the growth of our online-only Skinny Direct
service helped improve prepaid ARPU by 7.0%
compared to the prior year.
Our wireless broadband product is now in
104,000 premises a little more than a year after
we launched it into urban markets and is
delivering around $46 million of annualised
gross reduction in broadband access costs.
We are still targeting 125,000 wireless
broadband customers at financial year end.
At the same time, we have maintained the rate
of migration from copper to fibre and we are
pleased to have around 45% of broadband
customers on these new technologies, which
keeps us on track for being mostly ex-copper
by 2020 – improving the customer experience
and reducing the cost to serve.
We have also continued to upgrade our own
legacy systems to new technology platforms,
with good progress on the closure of our Public
Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). We are
well on track for moving all our customers to a
new generation IP-based voice network by 2022.
Our ability to grow wireless broadband and
mobile more generally is underpinned by a
substantial investment in the Spark mobile
Our wireless broadband product
is now in 104,000 premises, a
little more than a year after we
launched it into urban markets
and we are still targeting
125,000 wireless broadband
customers at financial year end.
Page 7

network. We’ve continued rolling out 4.5G
across New Zealand and now have it live on
38 large sites in 30 locations. This technology
is an enhanced version of 4G, delivering three
to five times the speed and network capacity.
It also helps us prepare for a 5G future, by
giving us a deeper understanding of the more
intensive data use-cases that will be made
possible by 5G.
We have progressed our plans in the Internet
of Things (IoT) space, by commencing the
rollout of a low-power IoT network, suitable
for when sensors or devices are transferring
small amounts of data and are reliant on
battery power. We have been testing this
network in the industrial and agriculture
markets and expect it to be commercially
available in mid-March. We are also testing
“LTE Cat-M1” technology over our mobile
network, which is ideal where sensors and
devices are transferring large amounts of
data regularly and real-time access to that
data is critical. We believe these two networks
will be complementary when it comes to
meeting customer needs.
Data consumption continued to grow, driven
primarily by music and video streaming.
Our partnerships with Spotify and Netflix
continue and, together with Lightbox, remain
a valuable means of customer growth and
retention. We are excited to announce our
new video media platform will launch in April,
Customers can now use the Spark
App or MySpark to get help with
using their smartphones and to
diagnose and fix broadband issues
themselves – in addition to the range
of functionality that was already
available such as topping up and
adding extras, setting up or
modifying payments, and checking
data usage.
which will expand the range of content available
and add an additional revenue stream with
‘pay-per-view movies’.
Spark Digital saw strong customer demand
for its cloud, security and service management
products, with customer wins in the health
sector reflecting a growing demand for the
benefits and flexibility that cloud-based
platforms offer.
Qrious strengthened its position to focus on
its specialist big data and analytics solutions
and new data-powered marketing offerings.
It has shown continued growth over the
past six months, enhancing its technology and
consulting offerings, and winning a number
of new public and private sector customers.
At the more price-sensitive end of the market,
we’ve increased the scale and the product set of
our Skinny brand. Skinny has committed to
having the lowest prices in market and this
promise, along with its award-winning service,
has proved very successful with customers.
Skinny’s “Data Binge” product, which launched
during the half, allows customers to access
unlimited data for a defined period of time (up
to 12 hours) without committing to an expensive
plan or pack. Skinny has successfully expanded
into the broadband market and has grown the
online-only, lowest-price Skinny Direct service
over the half, including by making this service
available for small business customers.
The moves to lead the market in terms of value
for our unlimited mobile data plan and the
growth of low-price plans under Skinny are
evidence the mobile market is serving
consumers of all budgets very well. We believe
consumers have benefited hugely from
infrastructure-based mobile competition
between three mobile network providers –
with faster network rollouts, much lower pricing
and a steady stream of product innovations,
almost all funded by the industry players
involved. The 2017 Commerce Commission
Annual Telecommunications Monitoring Report
shows New Zealand mobile prices are well
below OECD averages for typical bundles.
Page 8
Spark New Zealand Half Year Report 2018Chair and Managing Director report

While this is a great story for consumers,
the pressure on prices in an environment
of sharply growing data usage across both
broadband and mobile means we must
continue to reduce costs if we are to continue
to invest in new technologies while maintaining
the high-quality experience our customers
rightly expect. This brings us to the third of
our strategic priorities – to radically simplify,
automate and digitise our processes, products
and services. There has been huge progress
in this programme over the half year.
Our simplification programme has seen us
migrate 166,000 consumer and small business
customers from outdated mobile and
broadband plans onto new fit-for-purpose plans,
which offer better value and allow for digital
self-service. Within Spark Digital, we have
delivered a comprehensive programme
consolidating our processes and systems for
managed data, and set out a simplified and
standardised future for offers and services,
which we will implement along with new
contracts. We have also reduced overheads and
staff training needs by closing down end-of-life
products such as dial-up internet.
We have a dedicated team looking at
opportunities for automation across the
business, and we have built and leveraged
automation to draw re-usable benefit from it.
We now have 35 “bots” performing automated
and sometimes very complex tasks across a
variety of functions, from managing security
functions to proactively resolving broadband
faults to synchronising fibre orders with our
smaller fibre service providers.
Decisions on where and how to automate are
informed by a big data platform, which allows
us to identify opportunities for greater efficiency,
or to predict problems and proactively take
corrective action. Automation and artificial
intelligence are now materially reducing the need
for human-based help, freeing up staff to focus
on more rewarding, customer-focused work.
We’ve improved our customer self-service
tools with enhancements to the Spark App,
the MySpark self-service platform and the
simplification of our online “Help” section.
Customers can now use the Spark App or
MySpark to customise the information they
receive, make changes to their accounts,
and to diagnose and, in some cases, fix
broadband issues themselves. This is in addition
to the range of functionality that was already
available such as topping up and adding extras,
setting up or modifying payments, and checking
data usage.
These initiatives and our big focus on improving
customer service across the board are starting
to bear fruit. We measure customer satisfaction
using the Net Promotor Score (NPS)
methodology, and we also use learnings from
our customer satisfaction scores when designing
customer journeys. Over the half year we’ve
seen a rise in NPS across both Spark Digital and
Spark Home, Mobile & Business, alongside an
18% reduction of calls into our customer care
centres. Skinny has continued to win awards
for customer satisfaction, and this month was
named the winner of Consumer NZ’s People’s
Choice award for the third consecutive year.
As a company that was “born digital” Skinny
has been showing the way for Spark as we ramp
up our digitisation and simplification initiatives.
Spark Digital has also seen its focus on
increasing proactive contacts and issue
resolution result in improving margins on its
largest accounts.
The momentum in our business transformation
has given us confidence to be bolder in
pursuing the big improvements in NPS and
company culture that we set out as our
ambitions towards the end of last financial year.
To this end, we have been looking at how
an Agile way of working, best known as the
methodology used by software companies,
may assist in our transformation to a world-class
digital services provider. Our intention has
always been to scale up our use of Agile, but
we now see significant benefit in adopting Agile
across the whole organisation in the coming
months, to help us achieve three crucial
Page 9

outcomes: putting customers at the absolute
centre of our business; dramatically improving
speed to market for products and services; and
further energising our company culture.
We are now working through what our new
operating model might look like. As a first step,
we’ve set up three “frontrunner tribes” focused
on broadband, managed data and digital
experience – parts of the company we consider
most capable of making early changes. We will
be using these early tribes to learn how best to
roll Agile out wider across Spark.
Based on the results from the first half, we are
reaffirming the Board’s view on full-year EBITDA
guidance of 0-2% growth versus FY17 actual
EBITDA (excluding net gain from sale of Mayoral
Drive carpark), and support a total H1 FY18
dividend per share of 12.5c, made up of a 75%
imputed ordinary dividend per share of 11.0c
and a 75% imputed special dividend per share
of 1.5c. We note, however, that we are
considering accelerating our business
transformation to strengthen the FY19 result.
No decision has yet been made, but if the
programme is accelerated, then FY18 guidance
may reduce due to the associated costs of
change. We will update the market if
appropriate.
Justine Smyth
Chair
Simon Moutter
Managing Director
21 February 2018
Board and Senior Leadership
changes
We were delighted to announce
Pip Greenwood will join the Board as an
independent, non-executive Director.
Pip has significant experience in capital
markets, mergers and acquisitions,
telecommunications, and governance.
We very much look forward to her joining
the board in April this year, at which time
our Board of Directors will be 50% female.
We are proud of this milestone and believe
it reflects the pipeline of strong, capable
female leaders available for us to
draw from.
We also announced during the half that
Jason Paris, the CEO of Spark Home,
Mobile & Business (HMB), will be leaving
Spark early this year. We are very sad to see
Jason leave, but wish him all the best with
his new opportunity. Grant McBeath,
formerly General Manager of Customer
Channels for HMB, has been appointed
interim CEO of HMB. Grant has been on
the HMB Leadership team for five years
and has played a key role in the
transformation to date.
Page 10
Spark New Zealand Half Year Report 2018Chair and Managing Director report

Entertainment for everyone.
From Lightbox, Spotify, Netflix
to our new video media
platform. More content,
pay-per-view movies and more
pay-per-view events in the
pipeline. Stay tuned.
Page 11

SPARK RESULT OVERVIEW
Key performance indicators
SIX MONTHS ENDED 31 DECEMBER
20172016% CHANGE
Operating revenues
$M
1,8221,7931.6%
Operating expenses
$M
(1,358)(1,320)2.9%
Share of associates’ and joint ventures’
net (losses)
$M
(1)(2)(50.0%)
Earnings before interest, income tax,
depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA)
1
$M
463471(1.7%)
Net earnings
$M
172178(3.4%)
1 EBITDA and capital expenditure are non-Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (GAAP) measures and are not comparable to the New Zealand Equivalents to
International Financial Reporting Standards (NZ IFRS) measures. These measures are defined and reconciled on page 17.
2 Includes wireless broadband connections.
3 Employee numbers are full-time equivalents, including contractors, and are measured as at 31 December.
Total mobile connections
2,437K
▲
3.6%
Total capital expenditure
$262M
▲
17.0%
Earnings per share
9.4 cents
▼
3.1%
Total dividends per share
12.5 cents
H1FY17
12.5 cents
Broadband connections
2
694K
▲
2.8%
Capital expenditure to
operating revenues
14.4%
H1FY17
12.5%
Employee numbers
3
5,614
▼
5.5%
Connections
Capital expenditure
1
Investors
People
Page 12
Spark New Zealand Half Year Report 2018Spark New Zealand performance

Net earnings movements
NET EARNINGS INCREASESNET EARNINGS DECREASES

EBITDA
$463M
▼
$8M
▼
1.7%
OPERATING
REVENUES
$1,822M
▲
$29M
▲
1.6%
Cloud, security and
service management
▲
$27M
▲
17.5%
Growth reflects strong
customer demand for
the benefits and
flexibility that Cloud
based “as a Service”
products offer.
Mobile revenue
▲
$47M
▲
8.0%
Strong mobile service
revenue growth of $23
million, or 6.0%, was driven
by increased average revenue
per user and connection
growth. Other mobile revenue,
which increased $24 million,
or 11.7%, continues to be
driven by the sale of high-end
mobile devices.
Voice revenue
▼
$46M
▼
13.6%
Voice revenue continued to
decline as a greater proportion
of customers opt for a
broadband-only services to
their home or business.
Broadband revenue
▼
$3M
▼
0.9%
Broadband revenues
decreased despite an increase
in connections due to
increased migration to lower
priced but higher margin
wireless broadband products
since H1 FY17.
Managed data and networks
revenue
▼
$9M
▼
8.6%
Managed data revenue
continued to decline due to
the migration of business
and wholesale customers off
Procurement and
partners
▲
$7M
▲
4.0%
Low margin
procurement and
partners revenues
increased due to
greater volumes over
the period.
Other operating revenue
▲
$6M
▲
6.8%
Other operating revenue
growth was driven by the
continued progress of Spark
Ventures’ businesses such
as Qrious (including the
purchase of Ubiquity in July
2017) and a $3 million gain
associated with the buyback
of retail stores, partially offset
by $7 million lower Southern
Cross dividends in H1 FY18.
OPERATING
EXPENSES
($1,358M)
▲
$38M
▲
2.9%
Payments to
telecommunications
operators
▼
$23M
▼
6.6%
Decrease in baseband
and access charges
and broadband costs
from the uptake of
wireless broadband.
Labour
No change
Labour costs have remained
flat with increased costs
associated with business
acquisitions being offset by
lower staff levels as we
transition to the lowest cost
operator model.
Mobile costs
▲
$22M
▲
9.9%
Increase in mobile costs reflects
increased mobile revenue, in
particular mobile device costs.
IT services costs
▲
$11M
▲
5.1%
IT services costs increased in line
with the growth in cloud, security
and service management
revenues.
Other operating expenses
▲
$28M
▲
11.0%
Increase due to costs of change
associated with the Quantum
programme (up $13 million) and
a higher level of advertising
campaigns (up $10 million).
SHARE OF ASSOCIATES’
AND JOINT VENTURES’

NET LOSSES
($1M)
▼
$1M
▼
50.0%
Spark’s holdings in associates and joint ventures has
decreased, resulting in lower net losses recognised,
including the exit of Putti during the period.
NET EARNINGS
$172M
▼
$6M
▼
3.4%
EBITDA
$463M
▼
$8M
▼
1.7%
Depreciation and
amortisation expense
$214M
▼
$1M
▼
0.5%
Small decrease due to
lower average capital
expenditure levels in
the past three years.

Income tax expense
$63M
▼
$2M
▼
3.1%
Decrease in line with the
decrease in net earnings
before tax.

Net finance expense
$14M
▲
$1M
▲
7.7%
Decrease included a $1 million
increase in finance expenses,
and stable finance income. This
reflects an increase in average
debt and stable interest rates
compared to the prior period,
partially offset by higher
capitalised interest.
A summary of the results of Spark’s key business units are outlined in the following section.
Further details of the H1FY18 and historical performance of Spark are available in a separate
financials file on the investor section of our website at: investors.sparknz.co.nz/investor-centre.
Page 13

Cash flows
Spark’s principal sources of liquidity are operating cash flows and external borrowing from established
debt programmes and bank facilities. The full statement of cash flows is provided on page 26 in the
interim financial statements. The following provides a summary of the cash inflows and outflows from
operating, investing and financing activities during the year and the movements compared to H1 FY17.
CASH INFLOWSCASH OUTFLOWS
NET CASH FLOWS
FROM
OPERATING
ACTIVITIES
$405M
▲
$105M
▲
35.0%
Cash received from customers
$1,777M
▲
2.7%
Increase is consistent with the increase in
operating revenues from the prior period.
Payments to suppliers
and employees
($1,302M)
▼
4.5%
Decrease largely
driven by the timing of
contractual payments
to a large supplier of
$45 million.
Income
tax payments
($70M)
▼
11.4%
Decrease in tax payments
impacted by the timing of
provisional tax payments.
Dividend receipts
$7M
▼
(68.2%)
Decrease in Southern Cross dividend receipts
due to lower dividends during the year and the
timing of cash receipts.
Net interest payments
($7M)
▼
36.4%
Lower net interest payments reflecting lower costs of
debt and increased capitalised interest despite an
increase in average net debt.
NET CASH FLOWS
FROM
INVESTING
ACTIVITIES
($292M)
▲
$75M
▲
34.6%
No cash inflows from investing activities during
the period.
Payments for capital
expenditure and
capitalised interest paid
($240M)
▲
12.7%
Increase due to the
timing of key projects
during H1 FY18.
Payments for
long-term investments
($6M)
▲
200.0%
Increase due to an
investment in Globetouch
during the current period
and no significant
investments in H1 FY17.
Payments for purchase of businesses
($46M)
▲
44M
Payments during the period included the acquisitions
of Ubiquity, Digital Island and the buy-back of retail
stores with only minor acquisitions in H1FY17.
NET CASH FLOWS
FROM
FINANCING
ACTIVITIES
($48M)
▲
$31M
▲
39.2%
Net increase
in debt
$184M
▲
20.3%
A net increase in short
and long-term debt of
$184 million in H1 FY18
to support acquisitions
activity and the top up
of dividends.
Receipts from
finance leases
$1M No
change
No change in receipts
from finance leases
during the period.
Dividend
payments
($229M) No
change
Dividends per share paid
during the period
remained unchanged.
Payments for
finance leases
($4M) No change
No change in payments
for finance leases during
the period.
Page 14
Spark New Zealand Half Year Report 2018Spark New Zealand performance

Capital expenditure
1
Total capital expenditure for H1 FY18 was $262 million, an increase of $38 million, or 17.0%,
on H1 FY17.
This is a timing variance due to the phasing of some of our key projects and accordingly full year
capital expenditure is expected to remain within the 11%-12% target for FY18.
SIX MONTHS ENDED 31 DECEMBER
2017
$M
2016
$M
Cloud1922
Converged Communications Network (CCN)173
International cable construction and capacity purchases 1414
IT systems6460
Mobile network8969
Plant, fixed Network and core sustain and resiliency3836
Other2120
Total capital expenditure262224
>>
$89 million was invested in Spark’s mobile
network, an increase of $20 million compared
to H1 FY17, due to upfront purchases of
equipment to enable earlier delivery of
capacity and coverage requirements. Mobile
investment in H1 FY18 continued the
deployment of the single radio access
network (SRAN) and Long-Term Evolution
(LTE) sites, increased capacity and coverage
for wireless broadband, as well as lifecycle
investment and licencing in the mobile core;
>>
$38 million was invested in the fibre build
programme, Optical Transport Network
(OTN) and Carrier Ethernet expansion to
meet customer demand for services and
traffic growth across the network as coverage
expands. Various investments in Spark-owned
properties were also carried out; and
>>
Other capital expenditure increased to
$21 million and includes investment in store
refits, Lightbox, Qrious, Internet of Things
and Morepork.
Capital expenditure in H1 FY18 included the
following key focus areas and projects:
>>
$19 million was invested in cloud-related
capital expenditure to support cloud, security
and service management revenue growth;
>>
$17 million was invested in the CCN, which
will replace the legacy PSTN network and
enable us to deliver IP-based voice services in
the future;
>>
Investment in international cable construction
and capacity purchases was again $14 million
as Spark continued to invest in Southern
Cross international cable capacity to meet
upward trends in customer demand for data;
>>
IT systems investment of $64 million in H1
FY18 funded developments across our
products and IT systems to enhance the
customer experience. This included the
continued build of Telecommunications-as-a-
Service IT platforms for Spark Digital clients to
support its substantial take up by eligible
Government agencies as well as ongoing
simplification, automation and digitisation of
Spark’s ways of working;
1 Capital expenditure is a non-GAAP measure and is defined on page 17.
Page 15

Dividends
Spark pays dividends on a semi-annual basis.
A 75% imputed ordinary dividend of 11.0 cents
per share has been declared for H1 FY18,
together with a 75% imputed special dividend
of 1.5 cents per share, bringing the total
dividends for H1 FY18 to 12.5 cents per share.
Subject to no adverse changes in operating
outlook, Spark anticipates paying a total
FY18 dividend of 25.0 cents per share
that is at least 75% imputed. This dividend
is likely to be made up of an ordinary
dividend determined by earnings, topped
up by a special dividend to maintain a total
dividend per share of 25.0 cents. The dividend
reinvestment plan remains suspended.
H1 FY18
ORDINARY
DIVIDENDS
H1 FY18
SPECIAL
DIVIDENDS
Dividends declared
Ordinary shares11.0 cents1.5 cents
American Depositary Shares40.59 US cents5.54 US cents
Imputation
Percentage imputed75%75%
Imputation credits per share3.2083 cents0.4375 cents
Supplementary dividend per share
2
1.4559 cents0.1985 cents
‘Ex’ dividend dates
New Zealand Stock Exchange15 Mar 201815 Mar 2018
Australian Securities Exchange15 Mar 201815 Mar 2018
American Depositary Shares 15 Mar 201815 Mar 2018
Record dates
New Zealand Stock Exchange16 Mar 201816 Mar 2018
Australian Securities Exchange16 Mar 201816 Mar 2018
American Depositary Shares 16 Mar 201816 Mar 2018
Payment dates
New Zealand and Australia 6 Apr 20186 Apr 2018
American Depositary Shares 20 Apr 201820 Apr 2018
1 Based on the exchange rate at 19 February 2018 of NZ$1 to US$0.7380 and a ratio of five ordinary shares per one
American Depositary Share. The actual exchange rate used for conversion is determined in the week prior to payment
when the Bank of New York performs the physical currency conversion.
2 Supplementary dividends are paid to non-resident shareholders.
Page 16
Spark New Zealand Half Year Report 2018Spark New Zealand performance

Non-GAAP measures
This half-year report includes non-GAAP
financial measures that are not prepared in
accordance with New Zealand Equivalents to
International Financial Reporting Standards (‘NZ
IFRS’). Spark believes that these non-GAAP
financial measures provide useful information to
readers to assist in the understanding of the
financial performance, financial position or
returns of Spark. These measures are also used
internally to evaluate performance of business
units, to analyse trends in cash-based expenses,
to establish operational goals and allocate
resources. However, they should not be viewed
in isolation, nor considered as a substitute for
measures reported in accordance with NZ IFRS
as they are not uniformly defined or utilised by
all companies in New Zealand or the
telecommunications industry.
While there were no adjusting items in H1 FY17
or H1 FY18, Spark’s policy is to present ‘adjusted
EBITDA’ and ‘adjusted net earnings’ when the
period includes significant items (such as
one-off gains, expenses and impairments)
individually greater than $25 million.
Earnings before interest, income tax,
depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA)
Spark calculates EBITDA by adding back
depreciation and amortisation, net finance
expense and income tax expense to net
earnings. EBITDA includes Spark’s share
of associate and joint venture net losses.
A reconciliation of Spark’s EBITDA is provided
below and based on amounts taken from,
and consistent with, those presented in the
interim financial statements.
20172016
SIX MONTHS ENDED 31 DECEMBER $M$M
Net earnings for the period
reported under NZ IFRS172178
Add back: depreciation and
amortisation214215
Add back: net finance
expense1413
Add back: income tax
expense6365
EBITDA463471
Capital expenditure
Capital expenditure is the additions to property,
plant and equipment and intangible assets,
excluding goodwill, acquisitions and other
non-cash additions that may be required by
NZ IFRS, such as decommissioning costs.

Page 17

Spark Home,
Mobile &
Business
20172016
SIX MONTHS ENDED 31 DECEMBER$M$MCHANGE %
Operating revenues1,0341,0191.5%
Operating expenses(614)(608)1.0%
EBITDA4204112.2%
EBITDA margin40.6%40.3%
Strong gains in mobile combined with a
continuation of broadband connection growth,
offset by ARPU decline, with an increasing
amount higher margin wireless broadband
connections improving overall EBITDA margin.
Operational highlights
>Launch of the unlimited mobile plan and its
above expectation performance in market;
>5-point improvement in customer
Net Promoter Score for the period through
improved service levels in call centres, the
retail experience in retail stores and business
hubs, combined with great new service
offerings in both the Spark, Skinny and
Bigpipe brands;
>Insourcing of Spark retail stores driving
improved margins, particularly in mobile; and
>Lightbox exceeds 300,000 subscribers
through continuing to offer New Zealanders
great new content options like the award-
winning “Handmaid’s Tale”.
Increase in mobile service revenue
8.8%
Financial performance
Operating revenues increased by $15 million, or
1.5%, for the half year. This was primarily driven
by a $43 million, or 8.8%, increase in mobile
revenues, including mobile service revenue
growth of 8.8% from continued connection gains
and a 4.4% increase in average revenue per user
from H1 FY17. This increase was partially offset
by a $27 million, or 16.0%, decrease in voice
revenues as a greater proportion of customers
opted for a broadband-only service to their
home or business. Broadband revenues
decreased by $3 million, or 0.9%, due to
increased migration to lower priced but higher
margin wireless broadband products since H1
FY17. Cloud, security and service management,
procurement and partners, managed data and
networks and other operating revenues
remained relatively stable, increasing $2 million.
Operating expenses increased by $6 million,
or 1.0%, from H1 FY17 primarily driven by
increased mobile costs of sale reflecting
increased mobile revenue and in particular
mobile device costs. There was also increased
promotional activity during the period through
Spark Arena, the “Little can be Huge” brand
campaign and key new product launches. These
increases were partially offset by a $7 million, or
10.0%, reduction in labour cost and decreased
input costs through increased wireless
broadband and voice connections.
This resulted in an overall increase in EBITDA of
$9 million, or 2.2%, in H1 FY18.
Financial result
Page 18
Spark New Zealand Half Year Report 2018Spark New Zealand performance

Increase in Cloud, security & service
management revenue
17. 3 %
Spark
Digital
20172016
SIX MONTHS ENDED 31 DECEMBER$M$MCHANGE %
Operating revenues6336143.1%
Operating expenses(454)(436)4.1%
EBITDA1791780.6%
EBITDA margin28.3%29.0%
Focus on excellent service delivery resulting in
improved customer profitability and stronger
NPS scores.
Operational highlights
>>
Significant reduction in complexity around
product plans, with over 5,000 variants
removed from the managed data and
networks portfolio, and mobile and voice
portfolios reduced by 100+ each;
>>
Customer relationship NPS scores improved
substantially following focused effort on
increasing pro-active contacts, and issue
resolution;
>>
Customer wins in the health sector, reflecting
demand for the benefits and flexibility that
Cloud-based platforms offer;
>>
Consistently good service delivery has
resulted in growth in the profitability of our
top IT Services clients; and
>>
Launch of new managed data IT support
systems, creating the foundation for improved
customer experience and better self-service.
Financial result
Financial performance
Operating revenues increased by $19 million,
or 3.1%, in H1 FY18. The primary driver of
growth was cloud, security and service
management revenue which grew $26 million,
or 17.3%, reflecting strong customer demand
for “as a Service” products. When coupled
with growth in procurement and partners of
$8 million, the revenue growth was substantially
more than the ongoing decline in higher margin
voice and managed data and networks, albeit
at lower margins.
Operating expenses increased by $18 million,
or 4.1%, in H1 FY18. Most of the growth was
in operating expenses required to support the
$34 million of revenue growth in cloud, security
and service management and procurement and
partners. Labour increased $2 million, with new
employees bought on to support the growing
cloud and security businesses, these increases
were mostly offset by decreases in other areas
through the Quantum programme.
Overall, Spark Digital EBITDA increased by
$1 million, or 0.6%, in H1 FY18, with growth in
cloud, security and service management and the
ongoing cost reduction from Quantum offsetting
underlying higher margin voice and managed
data and networks declines. Growth potential
for cloud, security and service management
remains strong.
Page 19

Spark
Connect &
Platforms
Spark Connect began the rollout of the 4.5G
mobile network across the country, and
continued to invest in network resiliency to
support high customer demand for data.
Spark Platforms continued to re-invent
customer experience and drive NPS
improvements through digital customer
journeys and service transformation.
Operational highlights
>Rolled out 4.5G services to 30 locations to
enhance network performance and capacity
and on a pathway to 5G;
>Continued decommissioning of the PSTN
network, with removal of equipment from a
further 28 exchanges;
>Significantly improved Net Promoter Scores
for digital customer interactions;
>Designed 38% of customer journeys digital
first;
>Automated the provisioning of managed data
services for our customers; and
>Established tools and ways of working to
enable faster development of products and
services and improved capital efficiency.
20172016
SIX MONTHS ENDED 31 DECEMBER$M$MCHANGE %
Operating revenues272412.5%
Operating expenses(201)(203)(1.0%)
EBITDA(174)(179)(2.8%)
Financial result
Financial performance
Operating revenues increased by $3 million, or
12.5%, in H1 FY18. This includes revenues from
Chorus, Telegistics Repair Limited, Connect
8 Limited (following its acquisition in December
2016) and partnering arrangements.
Operating expenses reduced by $2 million, or
1.0%, in H1 FY18. This reflects a continued focus
on cost reduction and efficiency across all cost
categories, largely offset by higher spot prices
causing $4 million higher electricity costs.
Overall, Spark Connect & Platforms EBITDA
improved by $5 million, or 2.8%, in H1 FY18 due
to both increased operating revenues and
reductions in other operating expenses.
Digital first customer journeys
38%
Page 20
Spark New Zealand Half Year Report 2018Spark New Zealand performance

Spark
Ventures &
Wholesale
Gaining momentum with 2.7x increase in
Qrious operating revenues, moves into Internet
of Things and the acquisition of Digital Island.
Operational highlights
>Significant growth in Qrious revenue,
underpinned by the acquisition of Ubiquity
in July 2017 and refocusing the business on
its strength in data analytics and data-
powered marketing;
>Commenced roll-out of national low-powered
Internet of Things (IoT) network to support
proliferation of low-powered IoT devices to
support smart cities, smart agri and improved
tracking/monitoring use cases;
>Completed move to bring different IoT and
smart solutions into a single operational unit,
to better leverage network and data analytics
advantages;
>Growth products beginning to offset the
declining legacy products business within
Wholesale, contributing 50% of total
Wholesale margin in H1 FY18; and
>Spark Ventures portfolio expanded through
strategic minority investment in international
IoT business GlobeTouch and through the
acquisitions of Ubiquity and Digital Island.
Exited the investment in Putti.
20172016
SIX MONTHS ENDED 31 DECEMBER$M$MCHANGE %
Operating revenues119120(0.8%)
Operating expenses(61)(56)8.9%
Share of associates’ and
joint ventures’ net losses–(1)NM
EBITDA5863(7.9%)
Financial result
Financial performance
Operating revenues across Spark Ventures &
Wholesale decreased by $1 million, or 0.8%, in
H1 FY18. This was primarily due to ongoing
rationalisation of wholesale legacy copper-
based voice and data services. This continues to
be partially offset by revenue growth in Qrious,
IoT, new wholesale data and mobile services
and revenue from Ubiquity and Digital Island
businesses.
Operating expenses increased by $5 million, or
8.9%, in H1 FY18. This was due to increased
labour costs as a result of Ubiquity and Digital
Island acquisitions and increased operating
expenses to support growth in Qrious and IoT,
partially offset by cost efficiencies in Morepork
and Ventures support areas.
Overall, Spark Ventures & Wholesale EBITDA
declined by $5 million, or 7.9%, in H1 FY18 due
to the rationalisation of legacy-based services by
wholesale customers and increasing operating
expenses to support new venture businesses,
partially offset by earnings growth in new
ventures and reduced share of associates’ and
joint ventures’ net losses.
Page 21

INTERIM
FINANCIAL
STATEMENTS
Interim financial statements23
Notes to the interim financial statements28
Independent review report35
These interim financial statements do not
include all the notes and information normally
included in the annual financial statements.
Accordingly, they should be read in conjunction
with the annual financial statements for the year
ended 30 June 2017.
Page 22
Spark New Zealand Half Year Report 2018Interim financial statements

20172016
UNAUDITEDUNAUDITED
NOTES$M$M
Operating revenues4 1,822 1,793
Operating expenses5 (1,358) (1,320)
Share of associates' and joint ventures' net losses (1) (2)
Earnings before interest, income tax, depreciation and amortisation 463 471
Depreciation and amortisation (214) (215)
Net finance expense (14) (13)
Net earnings before income tax 235 243
Income tax expense (63) (65)
Net earnings for the period 172 178
Other comprehensive income
Items that will not be reclassified to profit or loss:
Revaluation of long-term investments designated at fair value
through other comprehensive income 7 –
Items that may be reclassified to profit or loss:
Cash flow hedges net of tax (5) 19
Other comprehensive income for the period 2 19
Total comprehensive income for the period 174 197
Earnings per share
Basic and diluted earnings per share (cents) 9.4 9.7
Weighted average ordinary shares (millions) 1,834 1,831
Weighted average ordinary shares and options (millions) 1,835 1,834
See accompanying notes to the interim financial statements.
Statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income
FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 31 DECEMBER
Page 23

AS AT
31 DECEMBER
AS AT
30 JUNE
20172017
UNAUDITEDAUDITED
NOTES$M$M
Current assets
Cash 117 52
Short-term receivables and prepayments 638 610
Short-term derivative assets 2 –
Inventories 83 94
Total current assets 840 756
Non-current assets
Long-term receivables and prepayments 244 237
Long-term derivative assets 8 7
Long-term investments7 119 108
Property, plant and equipment 1,077 1,070
Intangible assets 1,257 1,153
Total non-current assets 2,705 2,575
Total assets 3,545 3,331
Current liabilities
Short-term payables, accruals and provisions 558 464
Short-term derivative liabilities 23 30
Debt due within one year6 342 295
Taxation payable 2 2
Total current liabilities 925 791
Non-current liabilities
Long-term payables, accruals and provisions 17 18
Long-term derivative liabilities 52 45
Long-term debt6 838 692
Deferred tax liabilities 127 134
Total non-current liabilities 1,034 889
Total liabilities 1,959 1,680
Equity
Share capital 940 935
Reserves (407) (406)
Retained earnings 1,053 1,122
Total equity 1,586 1,651
Total liabilities and equity 3,545 3,331
See accompanying notes to the interim financial statements.
Statement of financial position
On behalf of the Board

Justine Smyth, Chair Simon Moutter, Managing Director
Authorised for issue on 21 February 2018
Page 24
Spark New Zealand Half Year Report 2018Interim financial statements

Statement of changes in equity
SIX MONTHS ENDED
31 DECEMBER 2017
SHARE
CAPITAL
RETAINED
EARNINGS
HEDGE
RESERVE
SHARE-
BASED
COMPEN-
SATION
RESERVE
RE-
VALUATION
RESERVE
FOREIGN
CURRENCY
TRANS-
LATION
RESERVETOTAL
UNAUDITED
$M$M$M$M$M$M$M
Balance at 30 June 2017 935 1,122 (20) 5 (368) (23) 1,651
Adjustment on adoption of NZ IFRS 9
(net of tax) – (12) – – – – (12)
Balance at 1 July 2017 935 1,110 (20) 5 (368) (23) 1,639
Net earnings for the period – 172 – – – – 172
Other comprehensive income/(loss) – – (5) – 7 – 2
Total comprehensive income/(loss)
for the period – 172 (5) – 7 – 174
Contributions by, and distributions
to, owners:
Dividends – (229) – – – – (229)
Supplementary dividends – (29) – – – – (29)
Tax credit on supplementary
dividends – 29 – – – – 29
Issuance of shares under share
schemes 5 – – (3) – – 2
Total transactions with owners 5 (229) – (3) – – (227)
Balance at 31 December 2017 940 1,053 (25) 2 (361) (23) 1,586
SIX MONTHS ENDED
31 DECEMBER 2016
UNAUDITED$M$M$M$M$M$M$M
Balance at 1 July 2016 923 1,162 (31) 9 (357) (22) 1,684
Net earnings for the period – 178 – – – – 178
Other comprehensive income – – 19 – – – 19
Total comprehensive income for the
period – 178 19 – – – 197
Contributions by, and distributions to,
owners:
Dividends – (229) – – – – (229)
Supplementary dividends – (30) – – – – (30)
Tax credit on supplementary
dividends – 30 – – – – 30
Issuance of shares under share
schemes 8 – – (5) – – 3
Total transactions with owners 8 (229) – (5) – – (226)
Balance at 31 December 2016 931 1,111 (12) 4 (357) (22) 1,655
Page 25

Statement of cash flows
FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 31 DECEMBER
20172016
UNAUDITEDUNAUDITED
$M$M
Cash flows from operating activities
Cash received from customers 1,777 1,731
Interest receipts 7 7
Dividend receipts 7 22
Payments to suppliers and employees (1,302) (1,363)
Income tax payments (70) (79)
Interest payments (14) (18)
Net cash flows from operating activities 405 300
Cash flows from investing activities
Payments for purchase of businesses (46) (2)
Payments for long-term investments (6) (2)
Payments for purchase of property, plant and equipment and intangibles (236) (211)
Capitalised interest paid (4) (2)
Net cash flows from investing activities (292) (217)
Cash flows from financing activities
Proceeds from long-term debt 651 595
Repayment of long-term debt (510) (540)
Proceeds from short-term debt 720 495
Repayment of short-term debt (677) (397)
Dividend payments (229) (229)
Payments for finance leases (4) (4)
Receipts from finance leases 1 1
Net cash flows from financing activities (48) (79)
Net cash flow 65 4
Opening cash position 52 52
Closing cash position 117 56
Page 26
Spark New Zealand Half Year Report 2018Interim financial statements

Reconciliation of net earnings to net cash flows from operating activities
SIX MONTHS ENDED 31 DECEMBER20172016
UNAUDITED
$M$M
Net earnings for the period 172 178
Adjustments to reconcile net earnings to net cash flows from
operating activities
Depreciation and amortisation 214 215
Bad and doubtful accounts 8 11
Deferred income tax (10) (7)
Share of associates' and joint ventures' net losses 1 2
Impairments 1 2
Other (1) (13)
Changes in assets and liabilities net of effects of non-cash and
investing and financing activities
Movement in accounts receivable and related items (55) (80)
Movement in inventories 11 (16)
Movement in current taxation– (4)
Movement in payables and related items 64 12
Net cash flows from operating activities 405 300
Page 27

NOTE 1 About this report
Reporting entity
These unaudited interim financial statements
are for Spark New Zealand Limited (the
‘Company’) and its subsidiaries (together
‘Spark’ or ‘the ‘Group’) for the six months
ended 31 December 2017.
The Company is incorporated and domiciled in
New Zealand, registered under the Companies
Act 1993 and is an FMC reporting entity under
the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013. The
Company is listed on the New Zealand Main
Board equity security market and the Australian
Securities Exchange.
Basis of preparation
The interim financial statements have been
prepared in accordance with the New Zealand
equivalent to International Accounting Standard
34: Interim Financial Reporting and International
Accounting Standard 34: Interim Financial
Reporting.
Except as amended by the early adoption of NZ
IFRS 9 Financial Instruments (2014), the
accounting policies adopted are consistent with
those followed in the preparation of Spark’s
annual financial statements for the year ended
30 June 2017. The preparation of the interim
financial statements requires management to
make judgements, estimates and assumptions.
Spark has been consistent in applying the
judgements, estimates and assumptions
adopted in the annual financial statements for
the year ended 30 June 2017. Critical
accounting policies are the same as those set
out in the annual financial statements for the
year ended 30 June 2017.
Financial instruments are either carried at
amortised cost, less any provision for
impairment, or fair value. The only significant
variances between instruments held at
amortised cost and their fair value relates to
long-term debt. There were no changes in
valuation techniques during the period. Spark’s
derivatives are classified as being within level 2
of the fair value hierarchy. The fair value of
interest rate swaps is calculated as the present
value of the estimated future cash flows based
on observable yield curves. The fair value of
forward foreign exchange contracts is
determined using forward exchange rates at the
period end date, with the resulting value
discounted back to present value.
At 31 December 2017, capital expenditure
amounting to $134 million (31 December 2016:
$142 million) had been committed under
contractual arrangements.
Early adoption of NZ IFRS 9 Financial
Instruments (2014)
Spark has now adopted NZ IFRS 9 Financial
Instruments (2014) (NZ IFRS 9), the final version
of the standard which replaces earlier versions
of NZ IFRS 9 and completes the replacement of
NZ IAS 39 Financial Instruments: Recognition
and Measurement. The new standard includes
three areas of change:
1. Classification and measurement of financial
instruments;
2. A single, forward-looking, ‘expected loss’
impairment model; and
3. Substantially reformed approach to hedge
accounting.
1. Classification of financial instruments
Spark early adopted Part 1 of NZ IFRS 9 (2009)
Financial Instruments from the year ended
30 June 2010 and adoption of the final NZ IFRS
9 standard has not required any changes to
Spark’s classification and measurement of
financial assets or financial liabilities.
2. New impairment model
NZ IFRS 9 prescribes an ‘expected credit loss’
model instead of the previous incurred loss
model, so it is no longer necessary for a trigger
event to have occurred before recognising
credit losses. NZ IFRS 9 requires Spark to
now base the measurement of expected
credit losses on forward-looking information,
as well as current and historic information.
This has resulted in an increase in provisioning
for expected credit losses as losses are
recognised earlier. Spark has applied the
simplified approach to all balances, which
requires the recognition of lifetime expected
credit losses at all times. The cumulative impact
of the change has been adjusted through
opening retained earnings as shown in the
statement of changes in equity.
Page 28
Interim financial statements
Spark New Zealand Half Year Report 2018
Notes to the interim financial statements

NOTE 2 Significant transactions and events for the current period
The following significant transactions and events
affected the financial performance and financial
position of Spark for the six month period to
31 December 2017:
Acquisitions
Spark made a number of acquisitions during the
period, with payments totalling $46 million for
the following:
• On 4 July 2017 Spark completed the
acquisition of 100% of the ordinary shares
in marketing automation provider Ubiquity
Software Limited. The acquisition will blend
the considerable marketing software
strengths of Ubiquity together with the
powerful smarts of Spark’s big data and
analytics software business Qrious Limited;
• On 22 November 2017 Spark completed
the acquisition of 100% of the ordinary shares
in Digital Island Limited, a New Zealand
based business telecommunications
provider; and
• During the period, Spark issued termination
notices to third party licensees of 29 retail
stores. Payments were made to licensees of
27 of those stores by 31 December 2017 with
the remaining two stores expected to be
completed in February 2018.
Debt programme
• On 31 August 2017 Spark increased its
existing committed revolving facility with
Westpac New Zealand Limited, maturing
on 30 November 2020, by $75 million to
$200 million.
• On 31 August 2017 Spark also established a
new $125 million committed revolving facility
with The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd to
mature on the 30 November 2022.
• On 20 October 2017 Spark issued
A$150 million of 10-year fixed rate bonds
maturing on 20 October 2027. This was
Spark’s inaugural issue using its Australian
debt issuance programme and first offshore
long-term debt issuance since the demerger
of Spark and Chorus in November 2011,
adding diversification and tenor benefits to
complement existing domestic funding
programmes.
Capital expenditure
• Spark’s additions to property, plant and
equipment and intangible assets were
$262 million, details of which are provided
on page 15 of this half year report.
Dividends
• Dividends paid during the six month period
ended 31 December 2017 in relation to the
H2 FY17 second-half dividend (ordinary
dividend of 11 cents per share and special
dividend of 1.5 cents per share) totalled
$229 million or 12.5 cents per share.
Dividends paid during the prior six month
period ended 31 December 2016 totalled
$229 million or 12.5 cents per share.
Changes in revenue classifications
• Spark has updated its revenue classification to
provide better information on the nature of
our revenues. This changes are outlined in
note 4.
3. Hedge accounting
NZ IFRS 9 introduces a new hedge
accounting framework which better aligns
with Spark’s risk management objectives and
provides greater flexibility in achieving hedge
accounting. This includes the introduction
of an aggregate exposure concept, being the
combination of an exposure and a derivative
which, together, can be designated as a hedged
item. NZ IFRS 9 also includes a more qualitative
and forward-looking approach to assessing
hedge effectiveness. There was no financial
impact on adoption.
NOTE 1 About this report (continued)
Page 29
Notes to the interim financial statements

NOTE 3 Segment information
The segment results disclosed are based on
those reported to the Managing Director and
are how Spark reviews its performance.
Segment results are measured based on
earnings before net finance expense, income
tax expense and depreciation and amortisation
(EBITDA). No excluded items are assessed
on a segment basis by the Managing Director.
Comparative segment results
Spark has reclassified the comparative segment
results to reflect changes in business unit
structures and changes in accountabilities for
managing revenues and costs. This includes the
move of small to medium business customers
from Spark Digital to Spark Home, Mobile &
Business, the mobility business from Spark
Digital to Spark Ventures & Wholesale and other
minor changes between business units from
transfers of revenues and expenses including
mobile inbound roaming, interconnect and
payphones. There is no change to the overall
Spark reported result because of these changes
and no other changes to Spark’s segments from
the 30 June 2017 annual financial statements.
Restated segment results for each half-year
period of FY16 and FY17 are available in a
separate detailed financials file on the investor
section of our website at: investors.sparknz.co.
nz/investor-centre.
SIX MONTHS ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2017
SPARK HOME,
MOBILE &
BUSINESSSPARK DIGITAL
SPARK
CONNECT &
PLATFORMS
SPARK
VENTURES &
WHOLESALETOTAL
UNAUDITED$M$M$M$M$M
Mobile 529 87 4 15 635
Voice 142 98 3 49 292
Broadband 327 13 – 1 341
Cloud, security and service
management 5 176 – – 181
Procurement and partners 2 181 – – 183
Managed data and networks 2 77 – 17 96
Other operating revenue 27 – 20 19 66
Internal revenue – 1 – 18 19
Total operating revenues 1,034 633 27 119 1,813
Segment result 420 179 (174) 58 483
Page 30
Interim financial statements
Spark New Zealand Half Year Report 2018
Notes to the interim financial statements

NOTE 3 Segment information (continued)
SIX MONTHS ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2016
SPARK HOME,
MOBILE &
BUSINESSSPARK DIGITAL
SPARK
CONNECT &
PLATFORMS
SPARK
VENTURES &
WHOLESALETOTAL
UNAUDITED$M$M$M$M$M
Mobile 486 87 3 12 588
Voice 169 108 3 58 338
Broadband 330 14 – – 344
Cloud, security and service
management 4 150 – – 154
Procurement and partners 3 173 – – 176
Managed data and networks 3 81 – 21 105
Other operating revenue 24 – 18 11 53
Internal revenue – 1 – 18 19
Total operating revenues 1,019 614 24 120 1,777
Segment result 411 178 (179) 63 473
Reconciliation from segment result to consolidated net earnings before income tax
SIX MONTHS ENDED 31 DECEMBER20172016
UNAUDITED$M$M
Segment result 483 473
Net result of corporate revenue and expenses (20) (2)
Depreciation and amortisation (214) (215)
Net finance expense (14) (13)
Net earnings before income tax 235 243
Page 31
Notes to the interim financial statements

Notes to the interim financial statements
NOTE 4 Operating revenues
SIX MONTHS ENDED 31 DECEMBER20172016
UNAUDITED$M$M
Mobile 635 588
Voice 292 338
Broadband 341 344
Cloud, security and service management 181 154
Procurement and partners 183 176
Managed data and networks 96 105
Dividend income 28 35
Other operating revenue 66 53
Total operating revenues 1,822 1,793
Dividend income includes dividends received from associate companies Pacific Carriage Holdings
Limited and Southern Cross Cables Holdings Limited.
Spark has revised the categories of operating revenues presented to provide more relevant
information on the nature of the revenue. This has resulted in the disaggregation of the previously
reported ‘IT services’ revenue category as outlined below:
REVENUE TYPEPREVIOUS CATEGORYNEW CATEGORY
Cloud, security and service
managementIT services
Cloud, security and service
management
Procurement and partnersIT servicesProcurement and partners
VideoconferencingIT servicesVoice
NetworksIT servicesManaged data and networks
Mobility revenueIT servicesOther operating revenue
NOTE 5 Operating expenses
SIX MONTHS ENDED 31 DECEMBER20172016
UNAUDITED$M$M
Payments to telecommunications operators 328 351
Mobile acquisition, procurement and IT services 470 437
Labour 278 278
Other operating expenses
Direct network costs 31 31
Computer costs 41 40
Accommodation costs 54 50
Advertising, promotions and communication 51 41
Bad debts 7 9
Impairments 1 2
Other 97 81
282 254
Total operating expenses 1,358 1,320
Page 32
Spark New Zealand Half Year Report 2018Interim financial statements

Notes to the interim financial statements
NOTE 6 Debt
AS AT
31 DECEMBER
AS AT
30 JUNE
20172017
COUPON
RATE
UNAUDITEDAUDITED
FACE VALUEFACILITYMATURITY$M$M
Short-term debt
Short-term borrowingsVariable< 1 month 50 6
Commercial paperVariable< 3 months 150 149
200 155
Bank funding
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ100 million NZDVariable13/03/2018 100 100
Bank of New Zealand100 million NZDVariable31/10/2018 – 90
Westpac New Zealand
Limited200 million NZDVariable30/11/2020 15 –
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ125 million NZDVariable30/11/2022 50 –
165 190
Domestic notes
250 million NZD5.25%25/10/2019 250 250
100 million NZD4.50%25/03/2022 102 102
100 million NZD4.51%10/03/2023 103 102
125 million NZD3.94%07/09/2026 118 116
573 570
Foreign currency Medium Term Notes
Euro Medium Term Notes – 22 million GBP5.63%14/05/2018 42 40
Euro Medium Term Notes – 18 million GBP5.75%06/04/2020 34 32
Australian Medium Term Notes – 150 million AUD4.00%20/10/2027 166 –
242 72
1,180 987
Debt due within one year 342 295
Long-term debt 838 692
On 31 August 2017 Spark increased its existing committed revolving facility with Westpac
New Zealand Limited, maturing on 30 November 2020, by $75 million to $200 million. On 31 August
2017 Spark also established a new $125 million committed revolving facility with The Bank of
Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd to mature on 30 November 2022. On 20 October 2017 Spark issued
A$150 million of 10-year fixed rate bonds maturing on 20 October 2027.
There have been no other changes in Spark’s short-term financing programmes or stand-by facilities
since 30 June 2017.
Page 33

NOTE 7 Long-term investments
AS AT
30 DECEMBER
AS AT
30 JUNE
20172017
UNAUDITEDAUDITED
$M$M
Shares in Hutchison 98 91
Investment in associates and joint ventures 11 13
Other long-term investments 10 4
119 108
Spark holds a 10% interest in Hutchison Telecommunications Australia Limited (Hutchison) which is
quoted on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and measures its fair value using its observable
market share price as quoted on the ASX, classified as being within level 1 of the fair value hierarchy.
As at 31 December 2017 the quoted price of Hutchison’s shares on the ASX was A$0.066 (30 June
2017: A$0.064).
Investment in associates and joint ventures
Spark’s investment in associates and joint ventures at 31 December 2017 consists of the following:
TYPECOUNTRYOWNERSHIPPRINCIPAL ACTIVITY
Feenix Communications LimitedAssociateNew Zealand30%
Supplier of network
services
Lightbox Sport General Partner
LimitedJoint VentureNew Zealand50%A holding company
NOW New Zealand LimitedAssociateNew Zealand37%Internet service provider
Pacific Carriage Holdings LimitedAssociateBermuda50%A holding company
Rural Connectivity Group LimitedJoint VentureNew Zealand33%Rural broadband
Southern Cross Cables Holdings
LimitedAssociateBermuda50%A holding company
TNAS LimitedJoint VentureNew Zealand50%
Telecommunications
development
Vigil Monitoring Limited (Jupl)AssociateNew Zealand26%Healthcare technology
NOTE 8 Significant events after balance date
Dividends
On 21 February 2018 the Board approved the payment of a first half ordinary dividend of 11.0 cents
per share or approximately $202 million and a special dividend of 1.5 cents per share or
approximately $28 million. The ordinary and special dividend will be 75% imputed in line with the
corporate income tax rate. In addition, supplementary dividends totalling approximately $23 million
will be payable to shareholders who are not resident in New Zealand. In accordance with the Income
Tax Act 2007, Spark will receive a tax credit from Inland Revenue equivalent to the amount of
supplementary dividends paid.
Page 34
Interim financial statements
Spark New Zealand Half Year Report 2018
Notes to the interim financial statements

© 2018 KPMG, a New Zealand partnership and a member firm of the KPMG network of independent
member firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity.

Independent Review Report
To the shareholders of Spark New Zealand Limited
Report on the interim financial statements
Conclusion
Based on our review, nothing has come to our
attention that causes us to believe that the interim
financial statements of Spark New Zealand Limited
and its subsidiaries (“the group”) on pages 23 to 34
do not:
i.present fairly in all material respects the
group’s financial position as at 31
December 2017 and its financial
performance and cash flows for the 6
months ended on that date; and
ii.comply with NZ IAS 34 Interim Financial
Reporting.
We have completed a review of the accompanying
interim financial statements which comprise:
—the group’s statement of financial position as at
31 December 2017;
—the group’s statements of profit or loss and
other comprehensive income, changes in
equity and cash flows for the 6 months then
ended; and
—notes, including a summary of significant
accounting policies and other explanatory
information.
Basis for conclusion
A review of interim financial statements in accordance with NZ SRE 2410 Review of Financial Statements
Performed by the Independent Auditor of the Entity (“NZ SRE 2410”) is a limited assurance engagement. The
auditor performs procedures, consisting of making enquiries, primarily of persons responsible for financial and
accounting matters, and applying analytical and other review procedures.
As the auditor of Spark New Zealand Limited, NZ SRE 2410 requires that we comply with the ethical
requirements relevant to the audit of the annual financial statements.
Our firm has also provided other services to the group in relation to other assurance services and software
license compliance review. Subject to certain restrictions, partners and employees of our firm may also deal with
the group on normal terms within the ordinary course of trading activities of the business of the group. These
matters have not impaired our independence as auditors of the group. The firm has no other relationship with, or
interest in, the group.
Use of this Independent Review Report
This report is made solely to the shareholders as a body. Our review work has been undertaken so that we
might state to the shareholders those matters we are required to state to them in the Independent Review
Report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume
responsibility to anyone other than the shareholders as a body for our review work, this report, or any of the
opinions we have formed.

Page 35

2

Responsibilities of the Directors for the interim financial statements
The Directors, on behalf of the group, are responsible for:
—the preparation and fair presentation of the interim financial statements in accordance Generally Accepted
Accounting Practice in New Zealand;
—implementing necessary internal control to enable the preparation of interim financial statements that are
free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error; and
—assessing the ability to continue as a going concern. This includes disclosing, as applicable, matters related
to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless they either intend to liquidate or to
cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
Auditor’s Responsibilities for the review of the interim financial
statements
Our responsibility is to express a conclusion on the interim financial statements based on our review. We
conducted our review in accordance with NZ SRE 2410. NZ SRE 2410 requires us to conclude whether anything
has come to our attention that causes us to believe that the interim financial statements are not prepared, in all
material respects, in accordance with NZ IAS 34 Interim Financial Reporting.
The procedures performed in a review are substantially less than those performed in an audit conducted in
accordance with International Standards on Auditing (New Zealand). Accordingly we do not express an audit
opinion on these interim financial statements.
This description forms part of our Independent Review Report.

KPMG
Wellington
21 February 2018


Page 36
Spark New Zealand Half Year Report 2018Independent review report

Contact details
Registered office
Level 2
Spark City
167 Victoria Street West
Auckland 1010
New Zealand
Ph +64 4 471 1638 or 0800 108 010
Principal administrative office in Australia
Level 8
61 Market Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Australia
Ph 1800 124 248
Company secretary
Silvana Roest
New Zealand registry
Link Market Services Limited
Level 11 Deloitte House
PO Box 91976
80 Queen Street
Auckland 1142
Ph +64 9 375 5998 (investor enquiries)
Fax +64 9 375 5990
enquiries@linkmarketservices.com
www.linkmarketservices.co.nz
Australian registry
Link Market Services Limited
Level 12
680 George Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Australia
Locked Bag A14
Sydney South NSW 1235
Australia
Ph +61 2 8280 7111 (investor enquiries)
Fax +61 2 9287 0303
registrars@linkmarketservices.com.au
www.linkmarketservices.com.au
United States registry
Computershare Investor Services
P.O. Box 505000
Louisville, KY 40233-5000
United States of America
Ph +1 888 BNY ADRS (+1 888 269 2377)
or +1 201 680 6825 (from outside the
United States)
shrrelations@cpushareownerservices.com
www.bnymellon.com/shareowner
For more information
For inquiries about Spark’s operating and
financial performance contact:
investor-info@spark.co.nz
Investor Relations
Spark New Zealand Limited
Private Bag 92028
Auckland 1142
New Zealand
investors.sparknz.co.nz
insight
creative.co.nz
SPARK031 02/18
Page 37

investors.sparknz.co.nz
ARBN 050 611 277

APPENDIX 7 – NZSX Listing Rules
Number of pages including this one
(Please provide any other relevant
NZSX Listing Rule 7.12.2. For rights, NZSX Listing Rules 7.10.9 and 7.10.10. details on additional pages)
For change to allotment, NZSX Listing Rule 7.12.1, a separate advice is required.
Full name
of Issuer
Name of officer authorised to
Authority for event,
make this notice
e.g. Directors' resolution
Contact phone
Contact fax
numbernumber
Date
Nature of event
BonusIf ticked,
Rights Issue
Tick as appropriate
Issue
state whether:
Taxable
/ Non TaxableConversionInterest
Renouncable
Rights IssueCapital
Call
Dividend
If ticked, state
Full
non-renouncable
change
X
whether:
Interim
X
YearSpecialDRP Applies
EXISTING securities affected by this
If more than one security is affected by the event, use a separate form.
Description of theISIN
class of securities
If unknown, contact NZX
Details of securities issued pursuant to this event
If more than one class of security is to be issued, use a separate form for each class.
Description of theISIN
class of securities
If unknown, contact NZX
Number of Securities toMinimum
Ratio, e.g
be issued following eventEntitlement
1 for 2 for
Conversion, Maturity, Call
Treatment of Fractions
Payable or Exercise Date
Tick if
provide an
pari passu
ORexplanation
Strike price per security for any issue in lieu or date
of the
Strike Price available.
ranking
Monies Associated with Event
Dividend payable, Call payable, Exercise price, Conversion price, Redemption price, Application money.
Source of
Amount per securityPayment
(does not include any excluded income)
Excluded income per security
(only applicable to listed PIEs)
SupplementaryAmount per security
Currencydividendin dollars and cents
details -
NZSX Listing Rule 7.12.7
Total monies
Taxation
Amount per Security in Dollars and cents to six decimal places
In the case of a taxable bonusResident
Imputation Credits
issue state strike priceWithholding Tax(Give details)
Foreign
FWP Credits
Withholding Tax(Give details)
Timing
(Refer Appendix 8 in the NZSX Listing Rules)
Record Date 5pmApplication Date
For calculation of entitlements -Also, Call Payable, Dividend /
Interest Payable, Exercise Date,
Conversion Date. In the case
of applications this must be the
last business day of the week.
Notice DateAllotment Date
Entitlement letters, call notices,For the issue of new securities.
conversion notices mailedMust be within 5 business days
of application closing date.
OFFICE USE ONLY
Ex Date:
Commence Quoting Rights:
Security Code:
Cease Quoting Rights 5pm:
Commence Quoting New Securities:
Security Code:
Cease Quoting Old Security 5pm:
16/03/18 AUST, NZ & USA
06/04/2018 AUST & NZ; 20/04/18 USA
$$0.014804$0.032083
$
NZD$0.014559
$201,844,401
Date Payable
6 April, 2018
In dollars and cents
RETAINED EARNINGS
$0.110
Enter N/A if not
applicable
ORDINARY SHARESNZ TELE0001S4
(09) 359 6413(09) 303 34302122018
EMAIL: announce@nzx.com
Notice of event affecting securities
1
SPARK NEW ZEALAND LIMITED
DAVID CHALMERSDIRECTORS' RESOLUTION

APPENDIX 7 – NZSX Listing Rules
Number of pages including this one
(Please provide any other relevant
NZSX Listing Rule 7.12.2. For rights, NZSX Listing Rules 7.10.9 and 7.10.10. details on additional pages)
For change to allotment, NZSX Listing Rule 7.12.1, a separate advice is required.
Full name
of Issuer
Name of officer authorised to
Authority for event,
make this notice
e.g. Directors' resolution
Contact phone
Contact fax
numbernumber
Date
Nature of event
BonusIf ticked,
Rights Issue
Tick as appropriate
Issue
state whether:
Taxable
/ Non TaxableConversionInterest
Renouncable
Rights IssueCapital
Call
Dividend
If ticked, state
Full
non-renouncable
change
X
whether:
Interim
YearSpecial
X
DRP Applies
EXISTING securities affected by this
If more than one security is affected by the event, use a separate form.
Description of theISIN
class of securities
If unknown, contact NZX
Details of securities issued pursuant to this event
If more than one class of security is to be issued, use a separate form for each class.
Description of theISIN
class of securities
If unknown, contact NZX
Number of Securities toMinimum
Ratio, e.g
be issued following eventEntitlement
1 for 2 for
Conversion, Maturity, Call
Treatment of Fractions
Payable or Exercise Date
Tick if
provide an
pari passu
ORexplanation
Strike price per security for any issue in lieu or date
of the
Strike Price available.
ranking
Monies Associated with Event
Dividend payable, Call payable, Exercise price, Conversion price, Redemption price, Application money.
Source of
Amount per securityPayment
(does not include any excluded income)
Excluded income per security
(only applicable to listed PIEs)
SupplementaryAmount per security
Currencydividendin dollars and cents
details -
NZSX Listing Rule 7.12.7
Total monies
Taxation
Amount per Security in Dollars and cents to six decimal places
In the case of a taxable bonusResident
Imputation Credits
issue state strike priceWithholding Tax(Give details)
Foreign
FWP Credits
Withholding Tax(Give details)
Timing
(Refer Appendix 8 in the NZSX Listing Rules)
Record Date 5pmApplication Date
For calculation of entitlements -Also, Call Payable, Dividend /
Interest Payable, Exercise Date,
Conversion Date. In the case
of applications this must be the
last business day of the week.
Notice DateAllotment Date
Entitlement letters, call notices,For the issue of new securities.
conversion notices mailedMust be within 5 business days
of application closing date.
OFFICE USE ONLY
Ex Date:
Commence Quoting Rights:
Security Code:
Cease Quoting Rights 5pm:
Commence Quoting New Securities:
Security Code:
Cease Quoting Old Security 5pm:
EMAIL: announce@nzx.com
Notice of event affecting securities
1
SPARK NEW ZEALAND LIMITED
DAVID CHALMERSDIRECTORS' RESOLUTION
(09) 359 6413(09) 303 34302122018
ORDINARY SHARESNZ TELE0001S4
In dollars and cents
RETAINED EARNINGS
$0.015
Enter N/A if not
applicable
NZD$0.001985
$27,524,236
Date Payable
6 April, 2018
16/03/18 AUST, NZ & USA
06/04/2018 AUST & NZ; 20/04/18 USA
$$0.002019$0.004375
$

---

Spark New Zealand Limited
ARBN 050 611 277 Spark City, 167 Victoria Street West, Private Bag 92028, Auckland, New Zealand


MARKET RELEASE
21 February 2018

Spark New Zealand H1 FY18 Results
• Strong performance in mobile, cloud, security and service management.
• Good progress in bold transformation programme; albeit as previously
indicated, planned change costs incurred.
• Focus on digitisation and simplification driving improved customer
satisfaction and reducing cost-to-serve.
• New Lightbox media platform to launch in April; will offer pay-per-view
movies and events

Spark New Zealand Chair Justine Smyth said today the financial results for the half
year to 31 December 2017 show Spark has made good progress on its bold
transformation strategy.
“We are beginning to see the results of progress against our three strategic focus
areas: an emphasis on wireless technologies; better serving price sensitive
customers; and radically simplifying, automating and digitising our business – to
reduce cost while maintaining the high-quality experience our customers rightly
expect. These underpin the next phase of our transformation, and are intended to
seek out growth in a very challenging market and operating environment.
“Over the half, Spark maintained top-line revenue growth, with H1 FY18 revenues up
1.6%, to $1.82 billion, despite intense competition in all our markets. This is on the
back of continued strong performance in mobile, up 8.0%, together with cloud,
security and service management, up 17.5%.
“As indicated at the end of the previous financial year, the transformation
programme has associated costs of change, and revenue growth over the half was
partially offset by $13 million of such costs. As a result, earnings before interest,
taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) over the period declined by $8
million to $463 million.”
Spark Managing Director Simon Moutter said, “We were pleased to see strong
growth in mobile connections, revenue and margin. The launch of our unlimited
mobile data plan, which set a new benchmark for value in the market, and growth in
the online-only Skinny Direct product helped grow mobile margins at both ends of

Spark New Zealand Limited
ARBN 050 611 277 Spark City, 167 Victoria Street West, Private Bag 92028, Auckland, New Zealand


the market and saw us return to overall mobile ARPU growth for the first time in two
years.
“Our cloud, security and service management revenue also continued to grow, on
the back of customer demand for “as a service” products. Mobile and cloud growth
continue to more than offset the declines in voice, managed data and networks.
“The Upgrade New Zealand programme progressed well over the period, with
wireless broadband now in 104,000 premises and large numbers of our customers
migrating from copper to fibre. We now have 45% of our customers on these newer
technologies, keeping us on track to be mostly ex-copper by 2020. This shift
improves the customer experience, and is also delivering around $46 million
annually in reduced access costs.
“At the more price-sensitive end of the market, Spark’s sub-brands Big Pipe and
Skinny have continued to resonate well with price-sensitive customers, securing the
majority of our broadband connection growth in the half year, alongside the growth
of Skinny Direct’s mobile service.
“Skinny has continued to win awards for customer satisfaction, and this month was
named the winner of Consumer NZ’s People’s Choice award for the third consecutive
year. As a company that was “born digital” Skinny has been showing the way for
Spark as we ramp up our digitisation and simplification initiatives.
“In the six months to 31 December 2017, we have migrated more than 166,000
Spark consumer customers on to new fit-for -purpose plans, offering better value and
digital self-service options. Spark Digital has stopped further sales of more than
5,000 outdated managed data plan variants, setting up for a simplified and
standardised future.
“Our digitisation of the business has continued at pace. We have 35 “bots”
performing automated and sometimes very complex tasks, from managing security
functions to proactively resolving broadband faults, and we’ve improved our
customer self-service tools with enhancements to the Spark App, the MySpark self-
service platform and the simplification of our online “Help” section. As a result, we’ve
seen an increase in customer satisfaction, alongside an 18% reduction of calls into
our customer care centres.”
Mr Moutter said Spark’s partnerships with Spotify and Netflix continued, together
with Lightbox, to be valuable means of customer growth and retention.

Spark New Zealand Limited
ARBN 050 611 277 Spark City, 167 Victoria Street West, Private Bag 92028, Auckland, New Zealand


“Lightbox now has more than 300,000 subscribers and we are excited to announce
today that it will upgrade its video media platform, with the new Brightcove platform
to launch in April. This will expand the range of content available and add an
additional revenue stream with ‘pay-per-view’ movies.
“The momentum of our transformation programme has given us confidence to be
bolder in pursuing our ambitions and we have been looking at how adopting an Agile
way of working may help us reach our targets for customer satisfaction and
company culture. While we have previously planned to “scale up” to Agile ways of
working, we now see significant benefit in adopting Agile ways of working across the
whole organisation and are in the process of working out how to get there.
Ms Smyth added that based on the results from the first half, the Board was
affirming full-year EBITDA guidance of 0-2% growth versus FY17 actual EBITDA
(excluding net gain from sale of Mayoral Drive Carpark), and supported a total H1
FY18 dividend per share of 12.5c, made up of a 75% imputed ordinary dividend per
share of 11.0c and a 75% imputed special dividend per share of 1.5c.
“We note however that we are considering accelerating our business transformation
to strengthen the FY19 result. No decision has yet been made, but if the programme
is accelerated, then FY18 guidance may reduce due to the associated costs of
change. We will update the market if appropriate.,” says Ms Smyth.
- ENDS –

For media queries, please contact:
Lucy Fullarton
Senior Communications Partner
+64 (0) 21 070 6197

For investor relations queries, please contact:
Dean Werder
General Manager Finance and Business Performance
+64 (0) 27 259 7176

Spark New Zealand
H1 FY18 Results Summary
Simon Moutter, Managing Director
David Chalmers,Chief Financial Officer

Overall Performance
Financial Summary
•Reported EBITDA on plan albeit down $8m (1.7%) on prior year; inclusive of $13m of non-recurring Quantum
programme costs of change to deliver an associated gross operating expense benefit of $8m in H1 FY18
(1)
and
a $44m annualised gross reduction in operating expenses
•H2 FY18 EBITDA outlook underpinned by revenue momentum and Quantum programme outcomes. To date the
Quantum programme has delivered an annualised gross reduction in operating expenses of $74m, with gross
benefits weighted towards H2 FY18 and beyond.
•Reported YoY revenue growth of $29m, or 1.6%, taking revenue to $1,822m as a result of continued strong
performances in cloud, security and service management up 17.5% and mobile up 8.0%.Mobile now accounts
for 38.2% of gross margin, up from 34.2% in H1 FY16.
•3.4% reduction in NPAT to $172m due to decline in reported EBITDA with depreciation, amortisation, interest and
tax expenses relatively flat
•H1 FY18 capex up $38m or 17.0% on prior year to $262m, only due to phasing of mobile capacity and
coverage expansion and build of foundational capability in support of PSTN shutdown. Overall FY18 capex
expected to remain in line with guidance.
•Cash conversion ratio
(2)
improved to 104% in H1 FY18, up from 83% in H1 FY17, due to favourable timing of
payment due dates and amortisation of content rights
•Net debt increased by $123m during H1 FY18 due to business acquisitions, continued growth in handset
receivable, timing of capital expenditure and payment of H2 FY17 dividend; current gearing provides ~$150m
of debt headroom within our S&P A-credit rating
•H1 FY18 total dividend per share of 12.5c will be made up of a 75% imputed ordinary dividend per share of
11.0c and a 75% imputed special dividend per share of 1.5c
(1)
Page 13 of this document provides further detail on Quantum costs and associated benefits
(2)
Calculated as operating cash-flow (excluding tax and interest) divided by EBITDA (excluding net gains from divestments and share of
associate and joint venture net losses)
$29m
+1.6%
Reported Revenue
movement
vs. H1 FY17
($8m)
-1.7%
Reported EBITDA
movement
vs. H1 FY17
($6m)
-3.4%
Reported NPAT
movement
vs. H1 FY17
Continued growth in mobile, cloud, security and service management revenues
offset by planned costs of change associated with Quantum programme
2

•Successfully monetising customer demand for mobile data, with total mobile ARPU returning to growth for the first
time in two years; up 1.8% on H1 FY17
•104k customers now connected to wireless broadband generating a ~$46m annualised gross reduction in access
costs and $17m of incremental benefit in H1 FY18. Still targeting 125k wireless broadband connections by 30
June 2018 as we progress towards our goal of being mostly ex copper by 2020.
•4.5G now live in 30 locations expanding network speed and capacity in order to meet exponential growth in
data
•Broadband connection growth continues, up 7k during H1 FY18. Total connection growth of 19k during 2017 is
Spark’s highest annual growth in three years
•Skinny and Bigpipe sub brands secured majority of Spark’s H1 FY18 connection growth and continue to resonate
well with price sensitive customers
•Skinny is the winner of Consumer NZ’s People’s Choice Award for the third consecutive year running.Skinny NPS
up 9 points on prior period; and Skinny Direct customer base has tripled YoY, further demonstrating demand for
digital sales and service
Pleasing progress made on the Quantum programme with financial benefits tracking to plan; albeit more visible on
run-rate than in-year due to phasing:
•Simplification, automation and digitisation driving improvement in customer experience and service costs; H1 FY18
HMB customer care voice interactions down 18% YoY
•Second phase of digitisation initiatives completed during H1 FY18, delivering an associated gross operating
expense benefit of $8m in H1 FY18 and a further annualised gross reduction in operating expensesof $44m.
The programme, which commenced in H2 FY17, has now delivered an annualised gross reduction in operating
expenses of $74m; with gross benefits weighted towards H2 FY18 and beyond.
Further Quantum investment in H2 FY18 and FY19 will continue to drive service and cost improvements.
Progress made on Quantum programme has given us confidence to go bigger and faster on our planned transition to
Agile at scale operating model.
Lowest cost operator
Better serving price sensitive customers
Emphasis on Wireless
$74m
Quantum Programme
per annum gross reduction in
operating expenses
Overall Performance
Key Areas of Focus
Substantial progress made in three focus areas outlined at 30 June 2017
Investor day; now underway with transition to scale Agile operating model
~$46m
Wireless Broadband Migration
per annum gross reduction in
access costs
3
38.8%
+1.1 pp
Share of Mobile
Service Revenue (1)
vs. H1 FY17
41.9%
(0.5 pp)
Share of Broadband
Connections (1) (2)
vs. H1 FY17
(1)
Market share estimate
(2)
Includes wireless broadband connections

Overall Performance
Financials
H1 FY18
$M
H1 FY17
$M
CHANGE
Revenues1,8221,7931.6%
Operating expenses
(1) (2)
(1,359)(1,322)2.8%
Reported EBITDA463471(1.7%)
Depreciation and amortisation(214)(215)(0.5%)
Net finance expenses(14)(13)7.7%
Net earnings before income tax235243(3.3%)
Income tax expense(63)(65)(3.1%)
Net earnings after income tax172178(3.4%)
Capital expenditure26222417.0%
Notional free cash flow
(3)
201247(18.6%)
EBITDA margin25.4%26.3%(0.9pp)
Effective tax rate26.8%26.8%-
Capital expenditure to operating revenues14.4%12.5%1.9pp
Earnings per Share9.4c9.7c(3.1%)
Total Dividend per Share12.5c12.5c-
(1)
H1 FY18 operating expenses include $13m Quantum costs of change
(2)
Includes share of associate and joint venture net losses
(3)
Notional free cash flow = EBITDA less capital expenditure
4

Overall Performance
Revenue
Mobile and cloud growth more than offsetting ongoing declines in voice, managed data and
Southern Cross dividends
5
Mobile, cloud, security and service management revenues now
account for 44.8% of total revenues, an increase of 5.3pp over
the past two years
Mobile growth driven by:
•6.0% increase in high margin service revenues on increased
ARPU and connections; and
•Ongoing customer demand for premium devices
Cloud, security and service management growth driven by
ongoing customer demand for “as a service” products
Accelerated rate of decline across voice, managed data and
networks due to:
•Continued adoption of naked broadband plans;
•Proactive migration of customers off traditional managed data
products onto new lower priced fibre based alternatives; and
•Increased churn off Wholesale and Spark Digital PSTN
offerings
Consistent with indications given in FY17 Results Summary,
Southern Cross dividend down $7m, or 20.0%, on prior year:
•H2 expected to see a further significant year-on-year decline
as the level of pre-purchased capacity from large customers
decreases
Other revenue growth from:
•Continued progress of Spark Ventures businesses including
acquisition of Ubiquity; and
•Gain of $3m associated with the buyback of retail stores
1,793
1,822
47
27
7 13
(46)
(9)
(3)
(7)
1,700
1,720
1,740
1,760
1,780
1,800
1,820
1,840
H1 FY 17VoiceManaged
Data &
Networks
MobileCloud,
Security and
Service
Management
Procurement
and Partners
BroadbandSouthern
Cross
Dividend
OtherH1 FY18
$m
Revenues
H1 FY17 vs H1 FY18
+ 1.6%
Managed
Data and
Networks
H1 FY17

Overall Performance
Operating Expenses
(1)
Cost increases in support of top line revenue growth and implementation of Quantum
programme with associated non-recurring costs
6
5.8% decline in voice, managed data and network cost of sales due to:
•Ongoing reductions in voice connections
Broadband cost of sales down $15m, or 6.7%, on prior year driven by:
•$17m YoY reduction in access costs due to ongoing adoption of
wireless broadband; partially offset by
•Regulated increases in wholesale access charges for both fibre and
copper
Mobile costs of sales increased $22m, or 9.9%, due to:
•Increased customer demand for premium devices;
•Ongoing adoption of value added services; partially offset by
•Reduction in commissions following the insourcing of Spark retail
stores
IT services cost of sales increase of 5.1% in support of growth in higher-
margin cloud and security products revenues
H1 FY18 labour costs flat year on year:
•$20m gross benefits from Quantum; offset by
•Expansion of labour in support of cloud and data analytics growth
and acquisitions, including insourcing of retail stores
•$74m annualised gross Quantum benefit weighted towards H2 FY18
Other expenses increased $16m, or 19.8%, in support of key marketing
campaigns and product launches
1,322
1,347
1,360
22
11
16
13
(7)
(15)
(2)
1,200
1,250
1,300
1,350
1,400
H1 FY16Voice and
managed
data cost of
sales
Broadband
cost of sales
Mobile cost
of sales
IT services
cost of sales
LabourOther
operating
expenses
Quantum
costs
H1 FY17
$m
Expenses
H1 FY17 vs H1 FY18
+ 1.9%
+ 2.9%
(1)
(2)
H1 FY17
H1 FY18
(1)
Includes share of associate and joint venture net losses of $2m in H1 FY17 and $1m in H1 FY18
(2)
Voice, managed data and network cost of sales includes baseband and access charges and other intercarrier costs
(3)
Quantum costs of change are externally reported within labour ($2m) and other operating expenses ($11m)
(3)

Overall Performance
EBITDA
Reported EBITDA on plan with YoY reduction due to $13m of non-recurring Quantum costs of
change; associated gross benefits weighted to H2 FY18 and beyond
EBITDA margin of 25.4% down 0.9 pp on prior year due
to:
•Improvement in gross margin percentage on growing
revenues; offset by
•$13m of Quantum costs of change in H1 FY18,
delivering $8m of gross cost reductions in the period
and $44m of annualised gross benefit; and
•Expenditure in support key marketing campaigns and
product launches
Excluding Quantum costs of change, underlying EBITDA
grew $5m or 1.1% to $476m
Gross margin increased by $19m or 2.0% on prior year
due to:
•6.8% growth in mobile gross margin on connection and
ARPU growth;
•14.0% increase in cloud, security and service
management gross margin due to continued adoption of
cloud and security services;
•9.9% improvement in broadband gross margin, despite
lower revenues, due to uptake of higher-margin wireless
broadband; partially offset by
•Ongoing declines in voice and managed data; and
•Declining Southern Cross dividends
7
(1)
Southern Cross dividends are externally reported within other operating revenue
(2)
Includes share of associate and joint venture net losses of $2m in H1 FY17 and $1m in H1 FY18
3)
Quantum costs of change are externally reported within labour ($2m) and other operating expenses ($11m)
471
476
463
36
(24)
(7)
(13)
400
450
500
550
H1 FY17Operating
revenue
Operating
expenses
Southern Cross
dividend
Quantum costsH1 FY18
$m
EBITDA
H1 FY17 vs H1 FY18
+ 1.1%
(1.7%)
(2)
(1)
(3)

Product Performance
Mobile
New Zealand's fastest growing mobile provider by connections and revenues with a return to
overall ARPU growth driving improved gross margin
Mobile revenues now account for 34.9% of total operating revenues; up
2.1pp on prior year.
Overall mobile ARPU up 1.8% on prior year, returning to growth for the first
time in two years:
•Continued growth in HMB pay-monthly ARPU following launch of lower-
priced unlimited data plan, with the number of HMB pay-monthly
customers on a $55 plan or above increasing by 22% on prior year;
•Spark Digital ARPU down on prior year due to continued competitive
price pressure; and
•Significant prepaid ARPU growth, up 7.0% on prior year, driven by
adoption of low-cost Skinny Direct prepaid offerings
Mobile gross margin up $25m, or 6.8%, on prior year:
•Continued growth in high margin service revenues on increased ARPU and
connection growth of 77k or 3.3%;
•Ongoing improvement in HMB handset margin as customers continue to
migrate away from subsidised handsets; with 86% of HMB pay-monthly
base now on open term plans; and
•Dealer margin savings through insourcing of Spark retail stores
20% YoY increase in net customer migration from prepaid to pay-monthly
resulting in decline in HMB prepaid base during the half
4.5G roll out progressing well with 30 locations and 38 sites now live:
•Provides customers with more data and faster speeds;
•Enables data to be delivered at a lower cost per GB; and
•Helps us prepare for a 5G future, by giving us a deeper understanding
of the more intensive data use-cases that will be made possible
8
-10k
0k
10k
20k
30k
40k
50k
60k
70k
H1 FY16H2 FY16H1 FY17H2 FY17H1 FY18
Net connection movement
pay-monthlyprepaid
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
H1 FY16H2 FY16H1 FY17H2 FY17H1 FY18
$m
Service revenue
pay-monthlyprepaid

9.9%growth in broadband gross margin
(1)
with benefits of wireless broadband adoption offsetting
the ARPU impacts of commoditisation, aggressive price competition and shift to naked broadband
services
91%
74%
55%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
H1 FY16H1 FY17H1 FY18
Connection mix by input type
copperfibrewireless broadband
Product Performance
Broadband
Rising input costs and persistent retail price competition continue to be features
of the broadband market, further cementing our focus on:
•Wireless broadband; and
•Better serving price conscious customers
Second consecutive period of connection growth, up 7k during H1 FY18, driven
by appeal of Skinny and Bigpipe sub-brands to price conscious customers
Revenue down $3m, or 0.9%, on prior year, despite connection growth, due to
ARPU dilution from:
•Ongoing adoption of naked broadband services reducing broadband access
revenue; and
•Uptake of lower-priced, but higher-margin, wireless broadband offers
‘Upgrade New Zealand’ momentum continues with 45% of broadband
connections now on newer and more reliable fibre and wireless inputs, up from
26% in H1 FY17
•104k customers now on wireless broadband, delivering ~$46m of annualised
gross reduction in broadband access costs
Video continues to fuel demand for data, with average monthly GB usage per
customer up 39%
(2)
on prior year. Reflected in ongoing migration to unlimited
broadband plans with these now accounting for 54% of connections.
Completed successful trial of portable wireless broadband solution during H1
FY18, providing valuable insights into potential future offerings
9
(1)
Broadband gross margin calculated as broadband revenue less broadband cost of sales
(2)
Excludes Skinny, Bigpipe and Digital Island. Average monthly data usage per connection 132GB
9%
26%
45%
8%
15%
23%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
H1 FY16H1 FY17H1 FY18
Naked Broadband as a % of total base
ClothedNaked

Product Performance
Cloud, Security and Service Management
Growth in higher-margin products and improved performance in service management
driving increased gross margin
Topline revenue growth of $27m or 17.5% driven
by:
•Customer wins reflecting demand for the
benefits and flexibility that cloud-based
platforms offer;
•Transition project workload; and
•Ongoing annuity product revenues
Gross margin up $17m fuelled by:
•Topline revenue growth; and
•Ongoing change in mix, with higher-margin
cloud and security products growing faster than
more labour intensive service management
offerings
Ongoing focus on effective and efficient service
management to drive growth in the profitability of
our top clients
Global trends and strong customer demand indicate
ongoing growth potential for cloud and security
revenues
10
117
140
154
170
181
H1 FY16H2 FY16H1 FY17H2 FY17H1 FY18
$m
Cloud, security and service management revenue
17.5%

Product Performance
Voice, Managed Data and Networks
Acceleration in rate of revenue and margin decline due to ongoing substitution of landline voice
to other technologies and proactive migration away from traditional managed data products in
support of simplification
Total voice, managed data and networks revenue declined
by $55m (12.4%) on prior year; versus a $36m (7.5%) YoY
decline in H1 FY17
H1 FY18 voice revenue
(1)
decline of $46m (13.6%) on prior
year higher than prior periods due to:
•$18m (12.7%) YoY decrease in higher-margin calling
revenues due to a 16% YoY decline in total calling
minutes; and
•Acceleration in migration of wholesale and Spark Digital
customers off PSTN
H1 FY18 managed data and networks revenue decline of
$9m (8.6%), higher than prior periods, as a result of:
•Proactive migration of customers off legacy data
platforms on to new lower-margin fibre based
alternatives in support of core product simplification; and
•Competitive pricing pressure
Launch of new managed data customer support systems,
creating the foundation for improved customer experience
and better self-service
11
(1)
Voice revenue includes connections delivered over the mobile network (Voice over LTE)
361
338
292
0
100
200
300
400
H1 FY16H1 FY17H1 FY18
Total voice revenue
HMBDigitalWholesaleOther
118
105
96
0
25
50
75
100
125
H1 FY16H1 FY17H1 FY18
Total managed data and networks revenue
HMBDigitalWholesale

Strategy Update
Media
Lightbox expanding its service, adding new monetisation options and latest movies
Excited to relaunch Lightbox on new Brightcove media
platform in April, in support of media marketplace
strategy. Will give us the functionality to partner with
other premium content providers; delivering other types
of content such as “pay-per-view” movies and events.
From launch we will substantially expand the available
range of content:
•Pay-per-view movies; hundreds of titles available at
launch with many more being added every week
•Kids content will get its own home so parents can
keep kids safe with appropriately curated content
Will also provide users with more sophisticated
functionality:
•Paid-for premium option to unlock simultaneous
streaming to more devices and downloadable
content to enable offline viewing
•Password protected profiles provide dedicated
access to kids content
12
With continuing growth and over 300,000
subscribers Lightbox remains a valuable means of
customer acquisition and retention

278
276
278
6
9
3
2
(20)
240
250
260
270
280
H1 FY17Quantum
benefits
AcquisitionsGrowth
Businesses
OtherQuantum
costs of
change
H1 FY18
$m
Labour costs
H1 FY17 vs H1 FY18
568
539
542
16
25
4
3
(74)
480
500
520
540
560
580
December
2016
Quantum
benefits
AcquisitionsGrowth
Businesses
OtherQuantum
costs
December
2017
$m
Annualised Monthly Labour Costs
Dec 2016 vs Dec 2017
Strategy Update
Quantum: Progress
(1)
Includes insourcing of Spark retail stores and acquisitions of Ubiquity and Digital Island
(2)
Total H1 FY18 Quantum costs of change of $13m are recognised in labour costs ($2m) and other expenses ($11m)
(3)
Equals 12 x actual monthly spend (after adjusting for timing of labour capitalisation and releases of holiday pay accruals)
Programme delivery expanded as planned during H1 FY18; associated gross annualised benefits
of $74m weighted towards H2 FY18 due to phasing of productivity gains
(2)
First phase of digitisation initiatives executed in H2
FY17 at a cost of $8m to deliver:
•$12m gross benefit in H1 FY18; and
•$30m gross annualised reduction in labour
Second phase of digitisation initiatives also completed
during H1 FY18 at a cost of $13m to deliver:
•Further $8m gross benefit in H1 FY18; and
•$44m gross annualised reduction in labour
Annualised net labourcosts projected to decline
further to ~$500m by end of FY18
Intent on completing Quantum programme in FY19
however:
•Considering opportunity to bring forward benefits
by accelerating the programme; and
•Additional costs of change may be brought
forward into FY18 to benefit FY19
13
Cloud and
data
analytics
Cloud and
data
analytics
Net Labour Costs
H1 FY17 vs H1 FY18
Annualised Net Labour Costs
H1 FY17 vs H1 FY18
(3)
(1)
(1)

Strategy Update
Quantum: Progress
Bold programme of simplification, automation and digitisation delivering material
improvement in service experience, employee engagement and cost to serve
14
+5
Increase in employee NPS
in the half
+5
Increase in consumer and small
business market NPS in the half
+23
Increase in Spark Digital
relationship NPS in the half
166,000
Customers migrated onto new
fit-for-purpose consumer plans
during the half
5,000+
Managed data plan variants
grandfathered
100+
Spark Digital voice and
mobile plans grandfathered
35
Bots automating tasks across
the business and proactively
solving customer issues
60%
Simple cloud customer
requests now automated via
self-service portal
53%
Spark Digital mobile service
requests automated
468,000
YoY reduction of calls into
HMB contact centres
Spark App users completing
270,000 self-service
interactions per month
46%
YoY Increase in HMB chat
interactions
2,078
Business customers using
“walk me” self-service
tutorials
Simplification
Digitisation
Automation
19%
Increase in organisations
using MySparkDigital
NPS
500,000+

Strategy Update
Quantum: Agile Ways of Working
Moving ahead with Agile at scale more quickly and with broader scope than earlier envisaged, to
capture clear benefits of these new ways of working
15
Why
Deeply embedded customer centricity
Dramatically increased speed to market
Highly empowered and engaged people with greater
productivity
When
Planning and high level designCompleted
Frontrunner tribes being establishedNow
Detailed structure design confirmedMarch
Employee training and transition to squad rolesApril-June
Agile at Scale implementedQ1 FY19
What
Teams built around
e2e accountability
“Boxes and lines”
less important, focus
on action
Leadership shows
direction and
enables action
Quick changes,
flexible resources
Principles
Organisations as organic systems, in which people collaborate
quickly and effectively around tasks and projects, across boundaries
Leaders as catalysts who show direction and set up the system for
people to do their jobs effectively
Employees as adults, exposing them to uncertainty to help them grow
and trusting them to do the right thing

Capital Management
Capital Expenditure
Capital envelope continues to provide sufficient capacity to execute on our strategy, with FY18
investment weighted towards H1
Continuing to work within a capex envelope of 11-12% of
revenue annually
Plant, network and core sustain includes ongoing fibre build
programmes and investments in Spark-owned properties
IT systems investment in support of enhanced customer
experience and ongoing simplification, automation and
digitisation of Spark’s products and services
Mobile investment up $20m on H1 FY17 due to phasing of
capacity and coverage expansion. Core mobile and wireless
broadband capability increasing via ongoing investment in
single radio access network (SRAN) and long-term evolution
(LTE) technologies.
Multi-year Converged Communication Network (CCN)
investment will replace the legacy PSTN network and enable
the delivery of future IP based voice services
Reduction in international cable and construction investment
following completion of Tasman Global Access (TGA) cable
build in H2 FY17
16
(1)
IT systems includes investments in core IT systems and Telecommunications-as-a-Service
(2)
Mobile includes investment in standalone mobile assets including capacity in support of wireless
broadband
(3)
Other includes store refits, Lightbox, Qrious, IoT and Morepork
(4)
International cable includes capacity purchases on Southern Cross cable and investment in
Tasman Global Access cable
CapitalExpenditure ($m)
H1
FY17
H2
FY17
H1
FY18
Plant, network, core sustain and resiliency36 31 38
IT systems
(1)
60 52 64
Mobile
(2)
69 33 89
Cloud22 20 19
Other
(3)
20 23 21
Converged Communications Network3 12 17
International cable construction and capacity
(4)
1420 14
Total CAPEX224 191262
Total CAPEX to operating revenue 12.5%10.6%14.4%

33
95
81
33
(19)
-20
0
20
40
60
80
100
H1 FY16H2 FY16H1 FY17H2 FY17H1 FY18
$m
Movement in working capital
17
$667m
60%
CapitalManagement
Working Capital
Cash conversion ratio
(1)
improved to 104% in H1, resulting in a $19m improvement in
working capital. Overall FY18 cash conversion projected to be90-95%,as favourable timing
of H1 payables unwinds.
(1)
Calculated as operating cash-flow (excluding tax and interest) divided by EBITDA (excluding net gains from divestments and share of
associate and joint venture net losses)
(2)
Calculated as the weighted average retail price (incl. GST) for all mobile devices sold by Spark HMB
Key components of movement in working
capital between H2FY17 and H1 FY18
HMB mobile handset receivable
Driven by a 19%increase in average handset value
(2)
Growth in the penetration of ‘open term’ plans has slowed
during H1 FY18, increasing by only 1% to 86%
$29m
Prepayments and accruals
Primarily due to timingof expenditure in support of
procurement and partners revenue growth
$3m
IT services contracts
Furtheron-boardingof customers during H1 FY18, with costs
incurred at the beginning of the contract but recognised over
the life of the contract
$11m
Timing of payables and receivables
Predominantly due to timing of payment due dates for key
suppliers and recognition of new customer acquisition costs
over customer contract periods
($60m)
Inventory
Due to reduction in levelof broadband modem stock
($1m)
Cash conversion
ratio
93%82%83%
94%
104%

974
1,025
1,082
1,097
51
57
26
29
8
(48)
950
1,000
1,050
1,100
1,150
H2 FY17Business
acquisitions and
minority
investments
Payment of H2
FY17 dividend
Timing of capital
expenditure
Movement in
handset
receivable
balance
Movement in
working capital
MiscellaneousH1 FY18
Movement in Net Debt between H2 FY17 and
H1 FY18
18
$667m
60%
Capital Management
Net Debt
$51m to fund minority investments and business acquisitions including
Digital Island, Spark retail stores and Ubiquity
$57m payment of H2 FY17 dividend consistent with previous policy,
whereby debt was used to supplement earnings per share to reset
capital structure
$26m timing of capital expenditure
(4)
across mobile and converged
communications programmes
$29m growth in handset receivable balance due to 19%increase in
average handset value
(5)
as HMB customers continue to adopt premium
devices
($48m) improvement in other working capital
(6)
due to:
•Timing of payment due dates for key suppliers; and
•Initial benefits of refreshed working capital policies
Current gearing of1.09x
(7)
remains consistent with Spark's ongoing
commitmentto maintaining an A-S&P credit rating and continues to
provide sufficient funding for:
•accretive business acquisitions and investments with focus remaining
on transactions of ~$100m or less that are close to the core;
•business as usual operations; and
•withstanding normal business risks
Funding capacity projected to improve over time as:
•EBITDA growth provides additional funding headroom;and
•Application of refreshed working capital policies improves cash
conversion
$m
(1)
Calculated using FY17 EBITDA of $996m; being reported FY17 EBITDA of $1,016m less net gain from sale of
Mayoral Drive Carpark
(2)
Miscellaneous movements include adjustment for fair value estimate of debt and timing of tax, interest and lease
payments
(3)
Refers to gross debt of $1,180m as reported in Note 6 of Spark’s FY18 Half Year Report less cash of $117m as
reported in the Statement of Financial Position within Spark’s FY18 Half Year Report plusthe impact of hedged rates
used, being $34m as at 31 December 2017.
(2)
Current gearing provides ~$150m of debt headroom
(1)
within our S&P A-credit rating; with net debt
increasing by $123m during H1 FY18 due to business acquisitions, continued growth in handset receivable
balance, timing of capital expenditure and payment of H2 FY17 dividend
H2 FY17Business
acquisitions
and minority
investments
Payment of H2
FY17 dividend
Timing of
Capex
Movement in
handset
receivable
balance
Misc.
(2)
H1 FY18
(3)
Movement
in other
working
capital
Total
movement in
working
capital
($19m)
(4)
Calculated as H1 FY18 payments for capital expenditure and capitalised interest paid of $240m lessreported H1 FY18 depreciation and amortisation of $214m
(5)
Calculated as the weighted average retail price (incl. GST) for all mobile devices sold by Spark HMB
(6)
Calculated as total H1 FY18 improvement in working capital of $19 less H1 FY18 increase in handset receivable balance of $29m
(7)
Calculated as net debt/EBITDA

19
$667m
60%
Capital Management
Dividend
Our preferred method of shareholder distribution remains to sustainably grow total dividends
over time in line with earnings growth
As part of our 2017 Investor Update we outlined our
dividend aspiration:
•To deliver a sustainable total dividend that is fully funded
by earnings per share of 25c or above -timing uncertain
•While earnings per share remain below 25c Spark may
choose to use debt to supplement earnings
From H1 FY18 onwards the primary use of any debt to
supplement earnings per share has therefore changed:
•fromresetting capital structure
•totopping up dividends as underlying earnings
sustainably grow to 25cps or above
Spark confirms an H1 FY18 total dividend per share of
12.5c made up of:
•H1 FY18 ordinary dividend per share of 11.0c, to be 75%
imputed; and
•H1 FY18 special dividend per share of 1.5c, to be 75%
imputed
16
17
20
22
22
3
3
FY13
FY14
FY15
FY16
FY17
Dividend pay-out (cps)
OrdinarySpecial

20
FY17 ActualFY18 Guidance
(1) (2)
Change to previous FY18
guidance
excluding net gain from sale of Mayoral
Drive carpark
versus FY17 actual excluding net
gain from sale of Mayoral Drive
carpark
Total Revenues$3,594m0-2% growth-
EBITDA$996m0-2% growth-
Capex$415m~$410m-
Earnings per Share22c~22c-
Dividend per Share
Ordinary22.0 cps fully imputed
Special3.0 cps 75% imputed
Total 25.0cps at least 75%
imputed
(3)
-
(1)
Guidance subject to no adverse change in operating outlook
(2)
Guidance is relative to reported FY17 results excluding net gain from sale of surplus Mayoral Drive carpark land
(3)
Likely to be made up of an ordinary dividend determined by earnings, topped up by a special dividend to maintain a total dividend per share of 25.0c
FY18 Outlook
Guidance
(1) (2)
Considering acceleration of Quantum programme to strengthen FY19 result. No decision has
yet been made but if programme is accelerated then FY18 guidance may reduce due to
associated costs of change; we will update the market if appropriate.

21
MeasuresTarget
30 June 2018
Status
Strategic
enablers
Spark HMB mobileand broadband connections migratedto new plans200kOnTrack
Spark Digital coreproduct plan portfolioReduced from 1,000’s to
100’s
Solid Progress
Transition toscaled Agile operating modelImplemented H2OnTrack, going bigger
Spark Digital offering tiered service modelLaunchedH2On Track
Deployed 4.5G locations30Delivered
Foundation IMS capabilitydeployedCommissionedH2On Track
Significant new automation and digitisationinitiatives completed5On Track
Percentage ofcustomer journeys designed digital first 70%On Track
PSTN exchange closuresatleast a further40
closures
On Track
Lead
indicators
Reductionin monthly Customer Care workload minutes
(1)
10%Well Ahead
Proportion of broadband customers on fibre or wirelessbroadband50%On Track
Market share of UFB connection growth40-45%Improvement Needed
Wireless broadband connections125kOn Track
Market
outcomes
Market NPS5 point liftImprovement Needed
Total mobile revenue growth4%Well Ahead
Cloud revenue growth
(2)
10-15%Ahead
New Ventures revenue growth incl. new wholesale100%On Track
Cyber security revenue growth30%On Track
FY18 Outlook
Indicators of Success
(1)
Workload minutes defined as: interactions answered xaverage handling time
(2)
This measure replaces the previous Platform IT revenue growth target, as Platform IT is no longer reported as a revenue category

Disclaimer
22
This announcement may include forward-looking statements regarding future events and the future financial
performance of Spark New Zealand. Such forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs of and assumptions
made by management along with information currently available at the time such statements were made.
These forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as ‘guidance’, ‘anticipate’, ‘believe’, ‘estimate’,
‘expect’, ‘intend’, ‘will’, ‘plan’, ‘may’, ‘could’, ‘ambition’, ‘aspiration’ and similar expressions. Any statements in this
announcement that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not
guarantees or predictions of future performance, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other
factors, many of which are beyond Spark New Zealand’s control, and which may cause actual results to differ
materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements contained in this announcement.
Factors that could cause actual results or performance to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the
forward-looking statements are discussed herein and also include Spark New Zealand's anticipated growth
strategies, Spark New Zealand's future results of operations and financial condition, economic conditions and the
regulatory environment in New Zealand, competition in the markets in which Spark New Zealand operates, risks
related to the sharing arrangements with Chorus, other factors or trends affecting the telecommunications industry
generally and Spark New Zealand’s financial condition in particular and risks detailed in Spark New Zealand's
filings with NZX and ASX. Except as required by law or the listing rules of the stock exchanges on which Spark New
Zealand is listed, Spark New Zealand undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements whether
as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Spark New Zealand
Group result
H1 FY16H2 FY16H1 FY17H2 FY17H1 FY18
$m$m$m$m$m
Operating revenues and other gains1,7231,7741,7931,8211,822
Operating expenses1,2661,2401,3201,2741,358
Share of associates' and joint ventures' net losses(2)(3)(2)(2)(1)
EBITDA455531471545463
Depreciation and amortisation expense224222215215214
Net finance expense1315131314
Net earnings before income tax218294243317235
Tax expense6082657763
Net earnings for the period158212178240172
EBITDA by business unit
H1 FY16H2 FY16H1 FY17H2 FY17H1 FY18
EBITDA$m$m$m$m$m
Spark Home, Mobile & Business417426411442420
Spark Digital176201178206179
Spark Connect & Platforms(192)(169)(179)(169)(174)
Spark Ventures & Wholesale7075636658
Corporate(16)(2)(2)-(20)
455531471545463
Connections
H1 FY16H2 FY16H1 FY17H2 FY17H1 FY18
000's000's000's000's000's
Mobile connections2,2122,2932,3532,3922,437
Voice connections
1
744713670622552
Broadband connections
Copper615564497431384
Fibre5899138172206
Wireless2124084104
675675675687694
Dividends
H1 FY16H2 FY16H1 FY17H2 FY17H1 FY18
Ordinary dividends (cents per share)11.0011.0011.0011.0011.00
Special dividends (cents per share)1.501.501.501.501.50
12.5012.5012.5012.5012.50
1
Voice connections now include all voice technology types, including POTS, ISDN, VOIP and wireless voice. Connections
for prior periods have been updated to ensure consistency. Voice connections exclude connections where Spark also
provide a bundled broadband service, but include all wholesale voice connections (including those where the underlying
customer has a bundled broadband service).

Spark New Zealand
Operating revenues and other gains by business unit
H1 FY16H2 FY16H1 FY17H2 FY17H1 FY18
Operating revenues and other gains$m$m$m$m$m
Spark Home, Mobile & Business1,0081,0251,0191,0211,034
Spark Digital557575614623633
Spark Connect & Platforms2223242827
Spark Ventures & Wholesale131134120124119
Corporate2641354628
Eliminations(21)(24)(19)(21)(19)
1,7231,7741,7931,8211,822
Group operating revenues and other gains
H1 FY16H2 FY16H1 FY17H2 FY17H1 FY18
$m$m$m$m$m
Operating revenues
Mobile
Service revenue371379383398406
Other mobile revenue192192205211229
563571588609635
Voice
Landline only169166155143130
Calling153164142134124
Videoconferencing2423272725
Other voice revenue1514141313
361367338317292
Broadband339346344345341
Cloud, security and service management117140154170181
Procurement and partners152147176169183
Managed data and networks11811110510296
Other operating revenue7392888994
Total operating revenues1,7231,7741,7931,8011,822
Other gains---20-
Total operating revenues and other gains1,7231,7741,7931,8211,822
Wireless broadband revenues and connections are included in broadband revenues and connections.

Spark New Zealand
Revenue classification changes
Revenue typeServices providedPrevious categoryNew category
CloudIT services
SecurityIT services
Service managementIT services
ProcurementIT services
PartnersIT services
VideoconferencingIT services
NetworksIT services
MobilityIT services
H1 FY16H2 FY16H1 FY17H2 FY17H1 FY18
$m$m$m$m$m
Cloud, security and service management117140154170181
Procurement and partners152147176169183
Networks2219202323
Videoconferencing2423272725
Other operating revenue777108
Previous IT services revenue category322336384399420
Spark has revised some of the categories of operating revenues presented to provide greater insight into the drivers of
business performance. This has resulted in the disaggregation of the previously reported ‘IT services’ revenue category
as outlined below:
A reconciliation of the new revenue categories to an equivalent of the previously reported 'IT services' revenue category
is provided below:
Machine to machine revenue.
Proactive monitoring and managed services for
customer networks.
Video and audio conferencing, including Skype for
Business and contact centre solutions.
Partner provided IT services, primarily in the regions
where Spark does not have a presence.
Cloud, security and
service
management
IT managed services including service desk, incident
management, problem management, change
management, configuration management and
release management.
Cyber security services.
Includes IaaS, DaaS, PaaS, public cloud resale and
related consulting and managed services. Also
includes data centre co-location and managed
infrastructure.
Other operating
revenue
Managed data and
networks
Voice
Procurement and
partners
Procurement and
partners
Cloud, security and
service
management
Cloud, security and
service
management
Procurement of hardware and software on behalf of
customers.

Spark New Zealand
Financial breakdown by business unit - Spark Home, Mobile & Business
H1 FY16H2 FY16H1 FY17H2 FY17H1 FY18
$m$m$m$m$m
Operating revenues
Mobile467471486506529
Voice186189169152142
Broadband324332330330327
Cloud, security and service management44445
Procurement and partners32322
Managed data and networks33322
Other operating revenue2124242527
1,0081,0251,0191,0211,034
Operating expenses
Labour5860706663
Other operating expenses519522524496536
Internal expenses1417141715
591599608579614
EBITDA417426411442420
EBITDA margin41.37%41.56%40.33%43.29%40.62%
Analysis & KPI's - Spark Home, Mobile & Business
H1 FY16H2 FY16H1 FY17H2 FY17H1 FY18
Voice revenue by type$m$m$m$m$m
Landline only8982817267
Calling8697787166
Other voice revenue11101099
186189169152142
H1 FY16H2 FY16H1 FY17H2 FY17H1 FY18
Connections000's000's000's000's000's
Broadband connections659659659671676
Voice only connections227218203201188

Spark New Zealand
Financial breakdown by business unit - Spark Digital
H1 FY16H2 FY16H1 FY17H2 FY17H1 FY18
$m$m$m$m$m
Operating revenues
Mobile8284878487
Voice10710910810898
Broadband1514141513
Cloud, security and service management113136150166176
Procurement and partners149145173167181
Managed data and networks8884818277
Internal revenue33111
557575614623633
Operating expenses
Labour9495110101112
Other operating expenses283274322312339
Internal expenses45443
381374436417454
EBITDA176201178206179
EBITDA margin31.60%34.96%28.99%33.07%28.28%
Analysis & KPI's - Spark Digital
H1 FY16H2 FY16H1 FY17H2 FY17H1 FY18
Voice revenue by type$m$m$m$m$m
Landline only3233303026
Calling5052505046
Videoconferencing2423272725
Other voice revenue11111
10710910810898
H1 FY16H2 FY16H1 FY17H2 FY17H1 FY18
Connections000's000's000's000's000's
Broadband connections1616161616
Voice only connections135136132121112

Spark New Zealand
Financial breakdown by business unit - Spark Connect & Platforms
H1 FY16H2 FY16H1 FY17H2 FY17H1 FY18
$m$m$m$m$m
Operating revenues
Mobile23344
Voice43333
Other operating revenue1617182120
2223242827
Operating expenses
Labour7770768374
Other operating expenses136121127113127
Internal expenses21---
215192203196201
Share of associates' and joint ventures' net profits / (losses)1--(1)-
EBITDA(192)(169)(179)(169)(174)
Analysis & KPI's - Spark Connect & Platforms
H1 FY16H2 FY16H1 FY17H2 FY17H1 FY18
Voice revenue by type$m$m$m$m$m
Calling43333

Spark New Zealand
Financial breakdown by business unit - Spark Ventures & Wholesale
H1 FY16H2 FY16H1 FY17H2 FY17H1 FY18
$m$m$m$m$m
Operating revenues
Mobile1213121515
Voice6466585449
Broadband----1
Managed data and networks2724211817
Other operating revenue1010111719
Internal revenue1821182018
131134120124119
Operating expenses
Labour768811
Other operating expenses5050485049
Internal expenses11--1
5857565861
Share of associates' and joint ventures' net losses(3)(2)(1)--
EBITDA7075636658
EBITDA margin53.44%55.97%52.50%53.23%48.74%
Analysis & KPI's - Spark Ventures & Wholesale
H1 FY16H2 FY16H1 FY17H2 FY17H1 FY18
Voice revenue by type$m$m$m$m$m
Landline only4851444137
Calling131211109
Other voice revenue33333
6466585449
H1 FY16H2 FY16H1 FY17H2 FY17H1 FY18
Connections000's000's000's000's000's
Broadband connections----1
Voice connections
1
382359335300252
Voice only connections8982767063
Mobile connections
2
3435333240
2
Mobile connections exclude MVNO connections.
1
Includes all wholesale voice connections (including those where the underlying customer has a bundled broadband
service).

Spark New Zealand
Financial breakdown by business unit - Corporate
H1 FY16H2 FY16H1 FY17H2 FY17H1 FY18
$m$m$m$m$m
Operating revenues and other gains
Other operating revenue2641352628
Other gains---20-
2641354628
Operating expenses
Labour1614141418
Other operating expenses2628213129
Internal expenses--1--
4242364547
Share of associates' and joint ventures' net losses-(1)(1)(1)(1)
EBITDA(16)(2)(2)-(20)
Analysis & KPI's - Corporate
H1 FY16H2 FY16H1 FY17H2 FY17H1 FY18
$m$m$m$m$m
Southern cross dividends2640352628
H1 FY16H2 FY16H1 FY17H2 FY17H1 FY18
Connections000's000's000's000's000's
Broadband connections----1