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Hubco six-monthprofits seenbelow Rs 3.2 bnRECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: Hub Power Company's profit for the six months ended December 31, 1999 would be below Rs 3.2 billion mainly because of piling up of huge receivables from Wapda, according to the analysts of leading brokerage houses.

The board of directors meeting of Hubco is scheduled for Wednesday in Dubai and besides approving financial results for the six months ended December 31, 1999, the company is expected to discuss the options on the imminent resolution.

The agenda for the meeting of the Hub Power Co., partly owned by National Power Plc., will be demands that the government should decide whether the company is involved in corrupt practices, it should allow the company to seek international arbitration and to help recover dues from Water and Power Development Authority.

''The profit of the company for the year ending June will be between 2.8 billion rupees ($54 million) to 3.2 billion rupees,'' Azhar Iqbal of ABN AMRO Securities in Karachi said.

He remained skeptical about Wapda's willingness and ability to clear its outstanding payables to Hubco. These payables as per the company's annual report for 1998-99 stood at Rs 9.887 billion. This figure is expected to swell to Rs 12 billion at the time of announcement of results for first half of 1999-2000. In view of Wapda's current financial condition, Azhar has doubts about the payment of these receivable to Hubco.

Mohammad Suhail of IP Securities said that Hubco was not legally bound to declare dividends to its shareholders. The only significant thing to observe in financial results would be Hubco's outstanding balance with Wapda.

He expected Hubco's receivables to be around Rs 12.3 billion and profit after tax to be around Rs 3 billion for the six months ended December 31, 1999.

He expected rescheduling of Hubco's stuck-up receivables over the remaining life of project coupled with 10 percent decline in shareholders' return.