Christchurch City Holdings Limited Analysis

Overview

CCHL is the commercial and investment arm of the Council. It was incorporated on 12 May 1993 to act as the holding company for the Council's commercial investments. As a result, it is a council controlled organisation under the Local Government Act 2002.

CCHL has eight direct Operating Subsidiaries, being Orion, CIAL, LPC, ESL, City Care Limited (Citycare), Red Bus Limited (Red Bus), EcoCentral Limited (EcoCentral) and Development Christchurch Limited (DCL). Six of these are 100% owned,the other two are majority owned by CCHL, being Orion (10.725% owned by Selwyn District Council) and CIAL (25% owned by the Crown).

CCHL's mission is to support the future growth of Christchurch by investing in key infrastructure assets that are commercially viable and environmentally and socially sustainable. CCHL's approach is to work with the Council to identify infrastructure needs of the region not being filled by the private sector or existing Council operations. This led to the establishment of entities such as ESL and DCL. This approach has resulted in CCHL and the Council (through its ownership of CCHL) owning a valuable portfolio of trading companies with strategic assets.

Continuing with this approach may result in CCHL's portfolio changing over time to meet the Christchurch region's infrastructure needs. At the date of this PDS CCHL does not have any plans to sell its shareholdings in its existing companies.

CCHL does not itself hold any infrastructure assets. Rather, CCHL is a holding company with its principal assets being the shares that it holds in its direct Operating Subsidiaries.

CCHL's main activities are monitoring the performance of its subsidiaries, through letters of expectation, regular reporting, and the appointment of Directors to its direct subsidiaries.

CCHL's primary source of income is dividend receipts from its direct Operating Subsidiaries. Its other source is interest income earned on loans advanced.

Performance

The following information was extracted from Christchurch City Holdings Limited's Half year results, released 28 February 2025:

The CCHL Group has delivered a solid result for the six months to 31 December 2024 with a net profit after tax (NPAT) of $68 million, compared to $49 million for the six months to 31 December 2023, which is tracking well towards the target NPAT outlined in the FY25 Statement of Intent to Christchurch City Council of $96 million

The increased NPAT is driven by stronger subsidiary operating performance with earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and impairment for the Group of $246 million for the six months to 31 December 2024, 13% higher than $217 million for the six months to 31 December 2023.