UPDATE 1-Pakistan's Hubco H1 net profit up 7.2 pct yr/yr

(Adds analyst comment, details)

KARACHI Feb 13 (Reuters) - Pakistan's Hub Power Co Ltd (Hubco) (HPWR.KA) on Wednesday said its first half 2007/08 net profit rose 7.2 percent from a year earlier to 1.34 billion rupees ($21.29 million).

Hubco -- the country's second largest private power producer -- reported a net profit of 1.25 billion rupees in the same period last year.

"This exceeded market expectations with the net profit and dividend," said Mohammad Saqib Sajjad, an analyst at Invisor Securities Ltd.

Hubco's sales totalled 26.79 billion rupees in the first six months of fiscal year 2007/08 (July-June), compared with 19.73 billion rupees in the corresponding period a year earlier.

Britain's International Power Plc (IPR.L) owns 16.6 percent of Hubco, which runs a 1,292 megawatt thermal power plant near Karachi.

Hubco announced in May last year it plans to build a 225-megawatt power plant at a cost of up to $225 million.

The firm also announced an interim dividend of 1.15 rupees per share.

Hubco shares closed down 0.10 rupees to 31.95. The results were released after the market close. ($1 = 62.93 Pakistani rupees) (Reporting by Sahar Ahmed)