Strategy, meet economy: Spark's new direction

Strategy, meet economy: Spark's new direction
Strategies come and go: newly appointed Spark CEO Jolie Hodson announcing a (now-defunct) Sky Sport deal in 2019. (Image: Getty)
Pattrick Smellie
 It’s a truism in corporate life that a strategy document is outdated the moment it’s published.The three-year strategy that Spark has officially buried with the announcement of its new five-year strategy is a case in point.The 2024-26 strategy was announced in April 2023, before the election of the current government and the emergence of covid-created inflation and the longest flat patch for the New Zealand economy since the early 1990s.The top three investment priorities were datacentre expansion, 5G technology, and digi...

More Markets

Banks carry almost $1b of unseen flooding risk: research
Economy

Banks carry almost $1b of unseen flooding risk: research

The fresh academic research came as the reporting season opened.

All-nighter delivers Fonterra near-$4b Lactalis deal
Primary Sector

All-nighter delivers Fonterra near-$4b Lactalis deal

Co-op’s shareholders in for $2 per share windfall, if approved.

The other buyers’ market: Retail discounting eats margins
Retail

The other buyers’ market: Retail discounting eats margins

Forsyth Barr’s Koraua says rate of margin decline has been surprising. 

NZ stocks end weaker, but Fonterra rallies sharply after deal
Markets Market Close

NZ stocks end weaker, but Fonterra rallies sharply after deal

Fonterra’s shares and units rallied while the broader market ended weaker.

Jamie Gray 22 Aug 2025