Kordia posts $1m profit

State-owned communications company Kordia Group has posted a net profit after tax of $1 million in the six months to December 31, compared to a $4.4 million loss in the same period last year.

The company said it was ahead of budget in both revenue and profit in the period.

It has reduced its net debt level from $105.4 million to $101.1 million in the past six months. Until 2003, the company was the transmission arm of Television New Zealand.

It is now a transtasman company providing customised broadcast and telecommunications services employing more than 700 people.

About $167m had been invested in the business in the past four years, said chief executive Geoff Hunt.

Sales activity had picked up for its integrated two-way digital radio and carrier ethernet products in New Zealand. Subsidiary Orcon was now achieving its targets in a highly competitive market, Hunt said.