Chorus remained frustrated about the impact of regulatory pricing decisions, despite delivering operationally on all fronts, chairwoman Sue Sheldon said yesterday.
The share price of Chorus has slumped since the Commerce Commission and the Government started trying to find a price to charge internet providers for access to the company's copper wire network.
Ms Sheldon told the annual meeting the board was aware of the impact on shareholders during a challenging financial year.
No dividend would be paid until at least after June 2015.
A substantial reduction in the regulated prices Chorus could charge for two key services it provided to the telecommunications industry, at a time of unprecedented capital investment, presented challenges.
Analysis indicated the reduction translated into an impact of about $160 million annually on the operating profit, she said.
''And it is now clear the expectation of many of our stakeholders, including the Government, is that Chorus solves the around $1 billion funding gap predominantly under its own steam.''
The board was focused on reshaping the business to put Chorus back on a sustainable financial footing, in parallel with progressing a review of the regulated pricing.
The company had presented its banks with a plan they had supported with important changes to funding arrangements, she said.
Chorus had reviewed its entire cost structure.
''We are cash-constrained, so other than where we have contractual or regulatory obligations, we are making decisions that prioritise short-term cash.''
That could require sacrificing value-improving capital expenditure, to the detriment of customers, Ms Sheldon said.
Although not sitting well with a company priding itself as the guardian of the network, it was a necessary approach to manage the challenges Chorus faced.
Chorus was ''comfortably into its stride'' on the ultrafast broadband and Rural Broadband Initiative infrastructure upgrades. Both build programmes were ahead of schedule.
It had also delivered some of the largest IT projects in New Zealand as it completed some parts of the separation from Spark.
Chorus wanted to increase the total pool for director fees to appoint a new non-executive director, taking the total to seven non-executive directors.
There would be no increase in individual director fees, despite an increase in workload, Ms Sheldon said.
