*

Company to hold analyst conference at 5 p.m.

*

Management expected to be asked about port sale updates

*

Group raised in July prospect of major Chinese investor

joining

the bid

*

H1 underlying profit forecast to rise 6%, UBS says

(Adds CK Hutchison share move in paragraph 10)

By Clare Jim

HONG KONG, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Investors will look for

comments from CK Hutchison ( CKHUF ) on the status of its $22.8

billion ports business sale to a consortium led by U.S.

investment firm BlackRock ( BLK ) when the Hong Kong

conglomerate reports its results on Thursday.

The ports-to-telecoms group will present its interim results

at 5 p.m. (0900 GMT), offering analysts the first opportunity to

quiz the management about the plan to sell the ports business

since it was announced in March.

Departing from its usual practice, CK Hutchison ( CKHUF ) did not

brief analysts or media about its 2024 earnings, released in

March after it made public its plan to sell the business, which

includes two ports along the strategic Panama Canal.

Since the plan to sell 43 ports in 23 countries to a group

led by BlackRock ( BLK ) and Italian billionaire Gianluigi

Aponte's family-run shipping firm MSC was announced, CK

Hutchison ( CKHUF ) has faced a firestorm of criticism from China.

In the latest announcement on July 28, the conglomerate said

it was in talks with the consortium pursuing its ports business

to add a Chinese "major strategic investor" to the bid, after

their exclusive talks ended.

It said changes would be necessary to secure regulatory

approval in relevant jurisdictions and that it would allow as

much time as needed to achieve that.

Sources have told Reuters the investor was COSCO -

one of the world's dominant, vertically integrated marine

transportation firms. They said COSCO was seeking a bigger stake

while the other parties in the consortium were keen to keep it a

minority.

While any stake by COSCO is not yet clear, an inclusion of a

Chinese investor would alleviate China's national security

concerns and have its blessing, the sources and other experts

have said. COSCO did not respond to a request last month for

comment.

U.S. President Donald Trump had earlier called for the

removal of Chinese ownership in the Panama Canal. More than 40%

of U.S. container traffic, valued at roughly $270 billion

annually, transits the Panama Canal.

Shares of CK Hutchison ( CKHUF ) eased 0.2% on Thursday ahead of the

results, versus a 0.1% fall in the Hang Seng Index.

UBS forecast last month a 6% rise in underlying profit for

the first six months, as ports and retail business growth and a

weakening dollar offset the negative impact of oil prices.

However, one-off losses, including from the completion of the

3UK merger, could weigh on the conglomerate's net profit.

Morgan Stanley rated CK Hutchison ( CKHUF ) "overweight" last month,

citing potential strategic transactions, attractive valuation,

and a strong balance sheet.

(Reporting by Clare Jim; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee, Tomasz

Janowski and Muralikumar Anantharaman)