Christchurch City Holdings Limited

Overview

CCHL is the commercial and investment arm of the Council. It was incorporated on 12 May 1993 to act as the holding company for the Council's commercial investments. As a result, it is a council controlled organisation under the Local Government Act 2002.

CCHL has eight direct Operating Subsidiaries, being Orion, CIAL, LPC, ESL, City Care Limited (Citycare), Red Bus Limited (Red Bus), EcoCentral Limited (EcoCentral) and Development Christchurch Limited (DCL). Six of these are 100% owned,the other two are majority owned by CCHL, being Orion (10.725% owned by Selwyn District Council) and CIAL (25% owned by the Crown).

CCHL's mission is to support the future growth of Christchurch by investing in key infrastructure assets that are commercially viable and environmentally and socially sustainable. CCHL's approach is to work with the Council to identify infrastructure needs of the region not being filled by the private sector or existing Council operations. This led to the establishment of entities such as ESL and DCL. This approach has resulted in CCHL and the Council (through its ownership of CCHL) owning a valuable portfolio of trading companies with strategic assets.

Continuing with this approach may result in CCHL's portfolio changing over time to meet the Christchurch region's infrastructure needs. At the date of this PDS CCHL does not have any plans to sell its shareholdings in its existing companies.

CCHL does not itself hold any infrastructure assets. Rather, CCHL is a holding company with its principal assets being the shares that it holds in its direct Operating Subsidiaries.

CCHL's main activities are monitoring the performance of its subsidiaries, through letters of expectation, regular reporting, and the appointment of Directors to its direct subsidiaries.

CCHL's primary source of income is dividend receipts from its direct Operating Subsidiaries. Its other source is interest income earned on loans advanced.

Performance

The following information was extracted from Christchurch City Holdings Limited's Full year results. released 28 August 2026

FY26 has seen a continuation of solid performances across the Group subsidiaries to deliver another positive result for the CCHL Group.

The CCHL portfolio value1 increased from $4.1 billion to $4.3 billion at the end of FY26. In FY26, CCHL returned to Christchurch City Council (Council) a $65 million cash dividend in line with the FY26 SOI target (FY25: $55 million), and non-cash distributions of $33 million (FY25: $14 million), comprising property and the tax effect of CCHL tax losses utilised by Council. In aggregate, this represents a Total Shareholder Return to Council of 7.2%.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and impairment for the Group was $581 million in FY26, an increase of 15% on the $506 million delivered in FY25, and ahead of the target EBITDA outlined in the FY26 Statement of Intent (SOI) to Council of $509 million2. Strong revenues and effective cost control being the driver of the solid operating performance.

Christchurch International Airport has delivered another year of strong results, with airport operations performing well, supported by increased passenger numbers, alongside an expanded property and freight platform.

Orion New Zealand produced a higher result on the prior year driven by a steady performance including higher regulatory revenue under the current default price-quality path (DPP4). Lyttelton Port Company year-on-year performance improved, with steady container throughput, higher bulk trade volumes, and improved operational performance. Enable Networks and City Care results are largely consistent with the prior year, in line with expectations with a continued focus on creating value for customers.

The Group delivered a normalised net profit after tax (NPAT) in FY26 of $208 million, compared to $159 million in FY25, ahead of the target NPAT outlined in the FY26 SOI to Council of $131 million. This represents a normalised return on equity3 of 6.8% (FY25: 5.6%) for the CCHL Group. NPAT is normalised for non-cash after-tax impairment and revaluation movements relating to goodwill and property, plant and equipment assets. The adjustments do not impact the Group’s ability to pay dividends, or the independently assessed portfolio value.

The Group’s total assets increased from $6.3 billion in FY25 to $6.7 billion in FY26.