KARACHI (February 07 2003) : Hub Power Co, on Thursday announced the financial results for the six months ended December 31, 2002 and the power plant was run at a load factor of 32 percent generating 858 Gwh of electricity.
This was due to the country having better monsoon rainfalls this year compared to last year which resulted in Wapda being able to increase its hydel electricity generation.
The profit of the company in six months showed a small gain, ending at Rs 2.880 billion up from Rs 2.875 billion of the same period corresponding year.
Turnover for the quarter was Rs 5.150 billion and operating cost was Rs 3.199 billion. These numbers are higher compared to the corresponding period last year mainly due to the difference in load factor.
Net profit for the quarter was Rs 1.406 billion compared to Rs 1.412 billion in the corresponding quarter last year.
The company said it will consider an interim dividend at their board meeting to be held early next month for the six months ended December 31, 2002.
During the quarter, routine maintenance was carried out on all four units to ensure the long term integrity of the power plant. All programmes were completed as planned.
The company is working closely with Wapda to reduce financing costs. In this regard, on January 8, 2003 an agreement was signed with a syndicate of Pakistani banks led by the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) to reduce the mark-up rate on Senior Rupee Facility from 26 percent to 15 percent effective from January 2002 resulting in savings of Rs 195 million which will be passed to Wapda.
The Board of Hubco appreciated the support of the Pakistani banks with this initiative.
It was expected that the first replacement Generator Transformer (GT) from Toshiba will arrive at site by mid February 2003.
Meanwhile, insurance continues to be unavailable for the two operational Ansaldo Generator Transformers, until the opportunity to exchange them from new replacement Toshiba Transformers is taken later this year.
Hubco and its operation and maintenance contractor International Power Plc have jointly signed an agreement with the Citizen Foundation of Pakistan to set up a school in Hub.
It is expected that 500 children in the vicinity of power station would get education at the school.
This project is another step forward in the company's commitment to social welfare in Baluchistan.
