HUTCHISON SEES HIGHER PAYOUT, SATISFACTORY PROFITS Hutchison Whampoa Ltd <HWHH.HK> expects satisfactory profits in 1987 and will pay a higher dividend for the year, chairman Li Ka-shing said. He did not make any specific projections for the company's earnings this year but he said the firm will pay a dividend of not less than 32.5 cents per share after a proposed four-for-one stock split and a one-for-four bonus issue. It paid total dividends of 1.30 dlrs per share last year, equal to 26 cents per share, adjusting for the bonus and share split. Hutchison, which has operations ranging from trading to property and container terminals, earlier reported after-tax profits of 1.62 billion dlrs against 1.19 billion dlrs in 1985. The 1986 total excluded extraordinary gains of 563 mln dlrs, partly from the sale of some of its stake in the South China Morning Post, the leading English language newspaper, compared with 369 mln dlrs the previous year. It said it expects another 277 mln dlr gain in 1987 from the sale of the remaining shares. Li said Hong Kong's property market remains strong while its economy is performing better than forecast with its largely export-led growth. Gross domestic product grew by nearly nine pct last year against an initial government projection of 4.5 pct. But he said Hong Kong's large trade deficit with the U.S. May result in protectionist measures that will adversely affect the British colony. He said all of the company's major operations showed improved results in 1986. Hutchison said earlier it will sell its entire 23.5 pct interest in Hongkong Electric Holdings Ltd <HKEH.HK> to <Cavendish International Holdings Ltd>, itself a spin-off from Hongkong Electric. Under a reorganisation announced separately, Hongkong Electric will spin off all its non-electricity related activities into Cavendish, which will be listed on the local stock exchange. Hongkong Electric shareholders will receive one share in Cavendish for every Hongkong Electric share. Cavendish will buy the 348.2 mln Hongkong Electric shares from Hutchison by issuing 975 mln new shares. The spin-off and the sale of Hongkong Electric shares will give Hutchison a 53 pct stake in Cavendish. Li said the decision to spin-off Cavendish is to relieve Hongkong Electric of public criticism of the power company for making risky investments. But he denied there was pressure from the government for the spin-off. He said Cavendish will have seven billion dlrs of assets and will be almost debt free, with 340 mln dlrs of liabilites. Its major assets are the Hong Kong Hilton Hotel, property development, and interests in Husky Oil Ltd <HYO.TO> of Canada and Pearson Plc <PSON.L> of Britain.