According to NZR, increased costs were due to Covid-19, managing inflationary pressures and investment into the women’s game.
NZR also said record revenue of $271m and the first tranche of funding from the Silver Lake transaction allowed NZR to pay $37m to its stakeholders and build more than $90m in cash reserves.
NZR chief executive Mark Robinson said in a statement: “The challenges of recent years should not be underestimated but the NZR board remained committed to investing in our game. The Silver Lake transaction allowed us to inject nearly $40m into our community clubs, provincial unions, Super Rugby clubs, our players pool, associate members and Māori rugby, while also increasing our investment in women’s rugby.
“The 2021 Rugby World Cup, played in 2022 was a priority area for NZR, alongside the establishment of Super Rugby Aupiki, and we have seen a continuation of that strategy in recent weeks with $21m committed to the first year of our 10-year women and girls’ strategy.”
It was also announced that Catherine Savage and Stu Mather were the latest additions to the NZR board.
Savage, the former chair of New Zealand’s Super Fund, moved into the independently appointed board position vacated by Bart Campbell’s decision to step away.
Savage’s addition to the board means NZR becomes the final major sporting organisation to hit Sport New Zealand’s diversity target of 40 per cent women and avoid a funding penalty of almost $600,000 annually.
Mather, the current chair of the Auckland Rugby Union, was elected to the board after being nominated by the Auckland union, heading off Shaun Nixon for a place on the nine-person board.
Former All Blacks captain Graham Mourie was given life membership.
