At a glance

  • Spark declared 16.0 NZc per share in dividends over the last 12 months: an 8.0 NZc interim and an 8.0 NZc final.
  • Spark carries 0% Australian franking. FY27 Dividend guidance is 16--18 NZc.

Spark New Zealand (ASX:SPK) is among New Zealand's largest telcos, selling mobile, broadband and IT services and running data centres. It is listed on the ASX, where it sits in the S&P/ASX 300 after being removed from the S&P/ASX 200 effective 23 December 2024.

Spark has cut its dividend, but the share price has fallen faster than the dividend. Because a Yield is simply dividends divided by price, that combination pushes the trailing yield up. The result is a gross trailing yield of about 8.1%--8.3%, with the exact figure depending on the Exchange Rate used to convert New Zealand cents into Australian dollars.

That currency wrinkle is just the start of the details Australian investors need to understand before taking the headline number at face value.

What dividends has Spark paid in the last 12 months?

Spark declares its dividends in New Zealand cents. Over the last 12 months it declared:

FY26 interim: 8.0 NZc per share, paid 10 April 2026.

FY26 final: 8.0 NZc per share, ex-dividend 10 September 2026, paid 2 October 2026.

That is 16.0 NZc in total. Non-resident holders also receive a supplementary dividend of 0.706 NZc per dividend, a mechanism designed to offset some of the New Zealand tax withheld from overseas investors.

The final went ex on 10 September 2026, so an investor buying at A$1.585 on 24 September 2026 will not receive it, even though it is not paid until 2 October 2026. As always, a trailing yield records what was paid to past holders rather than promising anything to new ones.

For Australian investors, franking is the other key detail. Spark's dividends carry 0% Australian franking. They do carry 50% New Zealand imputation credits, but those credits are generally of no use to Australian tax residents. So unlike a fully franked ASX dividend, there is no grossed-up Bonus to add on top. What you see is what you get --- before tax and currency.

Neither figure is wrong. The gross yield of about 8.1%--8.3% is the right number for comparing Spark with other companies' declared dividends. The net figure of 7.68% is closer to the cash an Australian holder actually receives, although the supplementary dividend and individual tax circumstances can change the final outcome.

What could change --- and what are the risks?

The most important number in Spark's dividend story is not the yield but the payout. Its dividend is about 100% of free cash flow. That leaves very little buffer: if cash generation weakens, or if the company needs to spend more on its network or data centres, the dividend has little room to absorb the hit without being cut again.

Guidance offers some reassurance. Spark has guided to FY27 dividends of 16--18 NZc, which at the bottom end would match the 16.0 NZc declared over the last 12 months. But guidance can be revised.

Other risks to weigh:

Currency: dividends are declared in NZ cents, so the Australian-dollar value of each payment moves with the NZD/AUD exchange rate.

Tax leakage: New Zealand Withholding tax reduces the cash received, and the 50% NZ Imputation Credits are generally of little value to Australian residents.

No franking: with 0% Australian franking, Spark can lag fully franked ASX stocks on an after-tax basis for many local investors.

Index demand: falling out of the S&P/ASX 200 can reduce buying from funds that track that index.