Dunedin City Holdings Ltd's (DCHL) first six months under new directors Denham Shale and Bill Baylis had been "difficult, in view of the general economy", but revenue had increased by 8% to $122.4 million, and cash flows from the group to the holding company up 10% to $17.9 million.
That would assist the company "in the payment of both interest and dividends to the Dunedin City Council".
Profit before tax was down from $9.3 million for the comparable period the year before to $8 million this financial year, while term borrowings rose from $404 million to $602 million.
"I think we're still in tough times," Mr Shale said of the economic environment.
DCHL is the holding company for Aurora Energy, City Forests, Dunedin City Treasury, Delta Utility Services, Taieri Gorge Railway and Dunedin International Airport Ltd.
The company is going through an extensive restructuring, following an independent report on DCHL written last year by Warren Larsen.
The report revealed a multimillion-dollar annual shortfall in DCHL's planned dividend to the council.
It caused an angry debate between Mayor Dave Cull and then DCHL chairman Paul Hudson, who is also a city councillor, about communication between the council and the company, which resulted in Mr Hudson being sacked from the position.
Mr Shale said interviews were being held yesterday for a new chairman of the airport company to replace Richard Walls, who died last year.
Applications had been received for a third director of the holding company, which the Larsen report had suggested, and interviews for that position were expected in the next two weeks.
Mr Shale said he and Mr Baylis were working on restructuring the boards of the subsidiary companies, and would be advertising for new directors.
The Larsen report recommended directors of subsidiary companies should not be directors of DCHL, and vice-versa, and should not serve on more than one subsidiary company.
In the past, a small number of directors have worked on several boards.
Asked who had been directing the companies since the report, Mr Shale said the directors in place last year had continued, as "we can't denude" the boards.
He hoped to have new boards in place by the end of the financial year.
On the company's dividend to the council, Mr Shales said there had been discussions about it decreasing.
It emerged last year the company had been borrowing to pay the dividend, and he reiterated that could not go on.
On the companies, he said electricity lines company Aurora had traded well, although the poor economy had slowed the growth in the amount of electricity carried by the network.
The flat economy had placed pressure on "the contracting margins" of Delta Utility Services.
For City Forests, export log prices paid by Korean customers fell by about 20%, significantly reducing margins.
The Taieri Gorge Railway had fewer passengers than normal, although with the cruise ship industry, January had been "quite outstanding".
Passenger numbers at the airport were up 7.4%, with the operating surplus after tax better than the budgeted figure.
