Conditional that you can guarantee that the - is used to separate the two "sides", and only in that location, then yes it can.
Code:
on *:text:*:?: {
  if $read(Hi.txt,w,$+($1-,*)) {
    inc -u600 %autohi. $+ $nick
    if ($($+(%,autohi.,$nick),2) < 3) {
      .timer 1 3 msg $nick !$gettok($read(Hi.txt,$readn),-1,45)
    }
  }
}