Tilt sale delivered NZ$993.9m gain; continuing PBT up 214.2%

Annolyse's historical baseline classifies NPAT growth as unprecedented versus a four-period mean of 25.0%, but the relevant operating read is PBT from continuing operations of NZ$194.5m, up 214.2% from NZ$61.9m, which the historical baseline marks at the upper edge of a -110.1% to 354.8% range.

Revenue declined 6.4% to NZ$541.1m – at the lower edge of the recent baseline – yet management's Proportionate EBITDAF, which captures share-of-associate earnings, rose 28.2% to NZ$253.6m.

The Tilt proceeds also reshaped the balance sheet: gross borrowings fell 75.6% to NZ$789.5m (from NZ$3.2b), cash rose to NZ$1.2b, and total assets of NZ$9.2b sit unprecedentedly low against a four-period mean of NZ$14.8b.

Continuing PBT growth of 214.2% on a 6.4% revenue decline tells you the underlying engines – CDC Data Centres (segment result NZ$38.3m), Vodafone NZ (NZ$125.6m), Trustpower (NZ$54.4m from NZ$33.6m), and a Wellington Airport recovery (NZ$20.8m from a NZ$2.8m loss) – are doing the work, but the NPAT number cannot be read as ongoing run-rate.

Balance-sheet capacity has been transformed. Net debt has swung from NZ$2.8b to a net cash position of roughly NZ$424.3m, and total equity is up 33.9% to NZ$4.9b. This matters because it changes Infratil from a deleveraging story into a capital-deployment story, and the next question is what the cash funds.

Guidance was trimmed at the upper end. FY22 Proportionate EBITDAF is now forecast at NZ$500–530m versus the prior NZ$505–550m range. The mid-point has barely moved, but the narrower top end signals that some upside scenarios management saw earlier in the year have not eventuated.

What is anchored is the FY22 Proportionate EBITDAF range of NZ$500–530m; the HY22 print of NZ$253.6m implies roughly NZ$246–276m in the second half, broadly in line with the first.

The gap that matters is between the trimmed top end of guidance and the strong half-year run-rate. Management has signalled confidence in the portfolio but has implicitly removed the strongest upside path, which is worth pressing on given how strongly CDC and Trustpower contributed in the half.

Strip it out and the continuing-operations story – PBT NZ$194.5m, +214.2%; PBT margin 35.9% at the upper edge of the recent range – is genuinely strong, but it is associate-driven rather than revenue-driven, which is why headline revenue fell while PBT rose.

Operating cash flow remained negative at NZ$17.4m (improved from NZ$44.3m outflow), and pre-lease free cash flow was NZ$55.1m negative. Capex fell 89.0% to NZ$37.7m (7.0% of revenue) from NZ$341.8m a year earlier, almost entirely because Tilt's renewables build is no longer consolidated. FCF-to-NPAT of -5.1% therefore tells you very little about cash quality; the cleaner read is that the platform still does not self-fund growth, and the NZ$1.2bn cash pile is what bridges that gap.

This briefing cannot assess the standalone earnings trajectory of CDC, Vodafone NZ, or the healthcare platforms because segment revenue and prior-period comparatives are not disclosed at that level.