On Monday, New Zealand's biggest electricity and gas distributor Vector Ltd, announced that it hoped to see full year operating earnings and profit to match or better the expectations of market.

The company confirmed that it was cautiously optimistic that it would be "comfortably" in or above the range of most analysts' forecasts, in spite of the challenging economic conditions.

A survey was conducted among the analysts, which showed that they predicted earnings before interest, tax depreciation and amortization of NZ$573 million ($367 million) for the year to June 30, with a net profit of NZ$161 million.

In the year June 2008, the company reported an after tax profit of NZ$164 million. It should be noted that 75% of shares of Vector is owned by an Auckland-based consumer electricity trust. The shares of the company last traded last traded down 1 percent at NZ$2.03, in a broader market.