KARACHI (September 06 2003) : Hub Power Co, Pakistan's largest commercial electricity producer, said profit fell 16 percent in the year ended June 30 after its turnover fell because of increase in hydel power generation.
Profit fell to Rs 6.1 billion ($106 million), or Rs 5.27 per share, from Rs 7.3 billion, or 6.30 rupees per share, the previous year, the company said in a statement to the Karachi Stock Exchange.
Sales fell 9 percent to Rs 19.5 billion.
The company said it plans to pay a dividend of 21 percent or 2.1 rupees a share for the second half, bringing the total for the year to 54 percent or 5.4 rupees.
Last year, the dividend totalled 76 percent or 7.6 rupees a share.
Hub Power cut the price it charges for electricity by 16 percent to 5.4 US cents per kilowatt on July 1 last year after the government complained the company charged more than rival producers, an analyst said.
Moreover, increase in hydel generation because of better availability of water erased its turnover during the period, the same analyst said.
The company sells all of its electricity to state-run Water and Power Development Authority, which in turn, sells it to consumers.
The plant was operated to high international thermal efficiency standards. During the year, 2,727 Giga watt hours of electricity was exported resulting in a cumulative load factor of 26 percent with an availability of 87 percent.
The lower load factor is mainly due to the availability of hydel power with better than expected rainfall during the monsoon season.
During the year, the station met the dependability capacity test by generating 1,205 mega watt successfully and thus meeting the 1,200 mega watt requirement.
The company's full-year earnings in millions of rupees:
=================================================== 2002-03 2001-02 Change (pc) =================================================== Turnover 19,513 21,367 -9 Operating costs 11,022 11,539 -5 Other income 471 1,027 -54 Financing costs 2,626 3,249 -19 Profit after tax 6,101 7,286 -16 ===================================================
