A dip in Waikato farm prices has hit Transpower's balance sheet, forcing it to write off $20 million of its property portfolio during the past year.
It yesterday reported an 11 per cent fall to $126 million in annual earnings.
The state-owned enterprise spent about $200 million on dairy farms, grazing land and lifestyle blocks through Waikato and the southeastern outskirts of Auckland for its transmission line project about five years ago, near the top of the farm price boom.
However, the fall in land prices meant it had to cut the value of its holdings. In the previous year the impairment had been $30 million.
General manager of corporate services Howard Cattermole said Transpower had been forced to buy properties when negotiations for easements over land for the North Island grid upgrade became difficult.