The 8c-per-share interim dividend is the first paid by the company since late 2013.
Chorus expects to pay a total dividend of 20cps.
Chorus yesterday reported an operating profit of $275million for the six months ended December, down 14% on the $321million reported in the previous corresponding period (pcp).
The reported profit fell 48% to $33million from $64million.
Operating revenue was $479 million and operating expenses were $204 million.
Total fixed lines fell by 33,000 in the period and broadband connections increased by 16,000.
Forsyth Barr broker Suzanne Kinnaird said the dividend was a positive surprise.
"We had expected a more conservative stance from the company. Looking ahead, ongoing declines in total customer connections will continue for Chorus as non-Chorus fibre demand grows.''
Chorus would look to mitigate that through broadband growth and other revenue sources, such as premium fibre plans.
Capital expenditure would continue to be an issue for Chorus, particularly if fibre growth continued to accelerate, she said.
Chorus was in negotiations with Crown Fibre Holdings about continuing a subsidy for hard-to-connect premises.
"Our view is Chorus should not be expected to cover this as it is outside the scope of the original ultra-fast broadband agreement,'' Ms Kinnaird said.
Chorus chief executive Mark Ratcliffe said the top operational priority for the company remained improving the fibre connection process for consumers.
Chorus connected 38,000 consumers to fibre in the six-month period.
With the growing demand, Chorus had increased its full-year forecast from 80,000 connections to between 85,000 and 95,000 connections.
Chorus averaged 450 connections on weekdays, with an aim to increase that to at least 600 connections by July, he said.
At December 2015, Chorus was 48% of the way through its UFB rollout.
Build work was completed for 400,000 premises and there were 539,000 consumers within reach of its fibre network.
Fibre uptake across all Chorus areas was 19%, or 105,000 connections.
The Rural Broadband Initiative would be completed by mid-year.
Chorus had exceeded its contractural targets and had enabled about 107,000 consumers to be upgraded from fixed-line broadband coverage.
Investments in the broadband network, combined with consumer uptake of better services, had meant the average broadband connection speed across the Chorus network increased from 10Mbps at demerger to 23Mbps.
About 41% of consumer and business fibre connections were on speeds of 100Mpbs or greater, compared with about 30% at the end of June.
"The ongoing growth in broadband demand and associated increases in bandwidth consumption continue to provide confidence in the outlook for fixed line networks,'' Mr Ratcliffe said.
