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Highlights
- There have been increases cases of cyber-attacks in NZ recently.
- More vigilant behavior and a new action plan must be implemented to stop these attacks.
- Chorus revealed that its fibre uptake increased from 60% to 65% in FY21
New Zealand has been facing increased cyber attacks recently, with many organisations becoming a victim of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks.
ANZ became the target of the DDoS attack on 8 and 9 September. Kiwibank and Metservice have also been affected by these attacks recently and are struggling with several problems with their websites. Others affected include NZ Post and the Ministry of Primary Industries.
New research by Google NZ has revealed that about 69% of Kiwis do not always take deliberate steps to improve online security. This is even after 30% of Kiwis accept that they know that their password has been jeopardised, and 20% have fallen prey to online fraud.
It calls for increased vigilance and requires reforming the action plan to stop these attacks.
Let's skim through how these 3 communication stocks are performing.
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Spark New Zealand Limited (NZX:SPK; ASX:SPK)
Spark reported a 1% increase in EBITDA to $1.12 billion in the second half of FY21, owing to strong growth in its key markets and cost control. However, due to significant amortisation and depreciation expenses and an increase in tax expenditure, the telco's NPAT decreased.
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It also continued to invest in infrastructure, offering 5G services in nine areas and expanding rural connections. SPK paid 12.5cps as dividend for H2 FY21.
On 15 September, at the time of writing, SPK was trading at $4.89, down 0.31%.
Chorus Limited (NZX:CNU, ASX:CNU)
Chorus released its FY21 results last month. The Company stated that fibre uptake grew from 60% to 65% in FY21, with 120K new fibre connections due to increasing demand for high-capacity internet.
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In FY21, the Company reported a $12 million decrease in sales compared to FY20. However, Chorus saw a little increase in EBIT owing to cost lowering and the absence of one-time COVID-19 expenditures in FY20. Further, SPK's UFB 2 implementation at CNU is ahead of schedule.
On 15 September, at the time of writing, CNU was trading flat at $6.82.
Vital Limited (NZX:VTL)
Vital released its annual results on 27 August. The Group reported a 14.5% rise in profit after tax to $0.841 million and a 5.6% rise in revenue to $35.24 million in FY21 compared to pcp. The firm also finalized all major capital investments with capital expenditure. However, the Group's business has not been so profitable in the second half of FY21.
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The Group expects its capital expenditure to be $5.3 million for the year ended 30 June 2022. The Group will pay a dividend of 2cps on 15 October 2021.
On 15 September, at the time of writing, VTL was trading flat at $0.68.
(NOTE: Currency is reported in NZ Dollar unless stated otherwise)