Christchurch taxpayer-owned businesses made a joint profit of $ 93 million in the first fiscal year after the March 2020 nationwide lockdown.

Christchurch City Holdings Ltd (CCHL), the investment arm of the city council, on Thursday released its annual report for fiscal year 2020-21, covering July 1, 2020 to June 30 of this year.

He paid the board a dividend of $ 34 million – which is lower than a pre-pandemic estimate of $ 51 million, but higher than the $ 18.8 million predicted at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

CCHL mainly owns large infrastructure companies such as Christchurch Airport and Orion Airline.

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Board chairman Jeremy Smith said the uncertainty created by the pandemic was a real test of an organization’s strengths, responsiveness and leadership.

His results are something all businesses under his wing should be proud of, he said.

“Going forward, the strengths that we have displayed as a group over the past year will continue to be needed as we navigate the opportunities and challenges ahead. “

The profit for 2020-2021 follows a $ 54 million loss from businesses in the previous fiscal year – which included the first wave of foreclosures in March 2020.

In 2020-2021, all businesses owned by CCHL made a profit except Development Christchurch Ltd, which has since been liquidated with some of its urban development functions being transferred to the ChristchurchNZ tourism agency.

The annual report showed Lyttleton Port had a net profit of $ 16 million, while Christchurch Airport as previously reported by Thing, made a profit of $ 38.7 million in an environment where international travel is largely absent.

The port company declined to comment.

Christchurch Airport General Manager Malcolm Johns recently said the airport’s profits are respectable and attributed it to lessons learned from the Christchurch earthquakes.

Fiber optic provider Enable made a profit of $ 15.8 million, with revenue reaching $ 84.4 million during the year. Today it has a clientele of 132,000 people.

EcoCentral made $ 2.43 million – an improvement over an operating loss the year before – while City Care Ltd, the only company under the CCHL wing that operates nationwide, achieved $ 5.6 million.

The sale of ailing transport company Red Bus also brought in $ 3 million.

Orion, which releases its annual financial results in March, reported a profit of $ 33 million earlier this year.

Deputy Mayor Andrew Turner, who is a member of the CCHL board of directors and chairman of the council’s finance committee, called Thursday’s result “very positive.”

“The profitability of [CCHL] is obviously impressive in what remains of very difficult times. “

Turner particularly highlighted the outcome of the airport, saying it was stronger than expected given the tough and difficult situations he was working in.

The fact that all businesses are profitable reflects that CCHL’s resiliency-driven approach has worked, Turner said.

“Because of what we’ve been through here, we’ve always been aware of the potential for future adverse events,” he said.

“Risk and resilience are very much on our radar. “

The release of the annual report came just days after CCHL CEO Paul Munro announced his resignation after five years in the post.

He will step down in March 2022 to focus on opportunities in the private sector.