Chorus Limited (CHRYY) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

SA Transcripts158.56K FollowersFollow5ShareSaveCommentsPlay Earnings CallPlay Earnings Call Chorus Limited (CHRYY) Q2 2026 Earnings Call February 22, 2026 4:00 PM EST Company Participants Mark Aue - Chief Executive OfficerAndrew Davies - Chief Operating Officer Conference Call Participants Entcho RaykovskiBenjamin CrozierArie DekkerWade GardinerBrian HanPhilip Campbell Presentation Operator Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Chorus HY '26 Results. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Mark Aue, CEO. Please go ahead. Mark AueChief Executive Officer Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Chorus' results presentation for the 6 months ended 31 December 2025. I'm Mark Aue, Chief Executive; and joining me is Drew Davies, our Chief Operating Officer. I'll begin with an overview of our results for the half year and cover some of the progress we're making on our strategy, having just entered our next phase into Horizon 2. Drew will then take you through the financials and FY '26 guidance, and I will close out with the outlook for the second half and long term. For the past 2 years, we've noted the economic downturn and its material impact across our country. We'd recognize economic recovery is at best still lumpy. Over the same period, we've continued to highlight the resilience of fibre more seemingly as an essential service, and so I'm pleased to be reporting another robust result for the first half. From a results perspective, comparing half-on-half, total fibre connections were up 3% at over 1.1 million, with uptake lifting to 72.4% and fibre revenues growing by 7%. Our ongoing focus on simplicity and efficiency has reduced operating expenses by 3%. Per previous thematic, this is despite inflationary pressures and non-tradable costs, such as rent rates and electricity. EBITDA of $357 million is $11 million ahead of the comparative half with underlying operating cash flows in line