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Have you ever wondered what you’d do if you were born to run one of the biggest businesses in Pakistan? Would you want to expand the business or sit back and spend your summers in the Swiss Alps? Take the example of the heir to the Treet Corporation. {Thread}
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After 10 years of decline, the ownership of Pizza Hut Pakistan is changing hands in a sale worth $10-15 million. So what went wrong? In short, competitors like Domino's entered the market, poached Pizza Hut's own talent and beat them. This is the story of how it happened {THREAD}
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IMF talks end in Doha. No program revival while fuel price caps in place, Fund tells govt: source.
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After 2 years in the driving seat, Najam Sethi has resigned as the chairman of Mitchell’s along with his handpicked CEO Naila Bhatti. The resignation comes on the back of Mitchell’s recording its highest losses in history. So where does the company go from here?
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Prices of tea have skyrocketed in Pakistan by Rs500/kg. Why? Because Pakistan is the world’s largest importer of tea spending $596 million on it last year. Meanwhile India produces 0.94m tons of tea a year, consuming 70% of it domestically. So what is stopping us? {THREAD}
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NAB has summoned Malik Riaz Hussain at 11 AM on the 1st of of December, regarding the purchase 458 Kanals of land in Jehlum. The case goes back to 2019, and is one of the murkiest webs from Imran Khan's government. At the center of it are £190mn that nobody can seem to trace. 1/7
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Pakistan cricket has gone to the dogs. A beleaguered PCB is currently embroiled in a battle against the country’s largest sports management agency, Saya Corps, in a saga that sprawls across player contracts, media rights and illegal betting. This is the full story {THREAD}
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A digital dictatorship may be coming. The PTA is moving ahead with a policy that will give them direct, unrestricted access to your data, as well as let them control what you see on the internet. How are they going about this, and is there anyone to stop them? {THREAD}
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Pakistani freelance workers will now be able to receive payments from foreign clients via ApplePay and GooglePay, offering them swift and hassle-free transactions. Here is how it works and what it means for a growing base of freelance gig workers
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A close friend of Asif Ali Zardari, married into the Chaudharys of Gujrat, barely 40, and the owner of City42 and 24News, Mohsin Naqvi has just been announced as the caretaker CM of Punjab. But who is the maverick businessman that has been given this responsibility? {THREAD}
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Pakistan is dangerously close to default. Only a few hours before the arrest of Imran Khan, Moody's had warned Pakistan would default by the end of June without an IMF bailout. With the climate of fear following the arrest, the IMF deal happening is next to impossible. 1/2
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For the past few months, a lavish marketing campaign has been run by New Metro City Gujar Khan - an up and coming real estate project run by Bilal Malik who is the grandson of Malik Riaz. The problem? The RDA has declared that the project is illegal and unapproved. {THREAD}
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PEMRA officials have confirmed to Profit that the newly launched Suno TV is owned and operated by the same group running Blue World City - a housing society in Chakri still unapproved by the RDA. But what interest do real estate developers have in the media? {THREAD}
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Here is a startling statistic. More Pakistanis emigrated to the United Kingdom in just the last 14 months (Jan 2023 to Feb 2024), than they did in the previous 51 years (1971-2022).
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British Airways flight lands in Lahore after 40 years
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Dr Umar Saif wants you to think Pakistan can increase its IT exports to $10 billion by 2028. Putting aside whether or not caretakers should be making such grand plans, there seems to be a great lack of understanding of Pakistan’s IT exports within the IT ministry.
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In a big development, Turkish fintech giant Papara is all set to acquire 100% of SadaPay in a deal that would possibly value SadaPay at $50mn. This deal is going to come with an immediate $10mn FDI into Pakistan in SadaPay [THREAD]
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Television ratings have disappeared in Pakistan. Medialogic, the country’s only TV ratings provider, has been banned by the govt allegedly because of its founder’s association with Imran Khan. But with no one issuing ratings, how will advertisers manage their day-today? {THREAD}
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Pakistan is about to hit a major milestone in the next year – transactions via cards, bank apps, and web portals will surpass cash withdrawals. That’s right, wave goodbye to the cash era!
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The PIA is currently paying $600,000 a month for two Airbus A320 planes that they are not using. The rented planes have been parked in Jakarta for 9 months, and have racked up a bill worth millions of dollars after their redelivery process was delayed multiple times.
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Contrary to IT minister Umar Saif’s claims, PayPal and Payoneer are just entering into a partnership to add PayPal as a payment method on Payoneer
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Master Tiles, the company that came to promise because of the lavish Rs 2 billion wedding they hosted in 2020, has not paid its factory workers their wages for the past four months despite promising that the payments would be made before Eid.
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DHA Multan's ambitious project, spanning over 9000 acres, faces a downturn. Launched in 2017, it initially drew investors, spiking plot prices. But, what led to this unexpected fall?
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A terminal of Karachi Port has been sold to Emirati investors for $220 million. But this is no ordinary deal. It involves a dubious law that could open a legal can of worms for everyone going forward.🧵
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Pakistan’s startups going through a massive wave of layoffs & closures &this time its brutal. Prominent startup Cheetay is shutting operations completely, Dastgyr has laid off 500-600 people, fintech YAP has fired almost all staff leaving fate of EMI license in balance [THREAD]
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Walk into any pharmacy in Pakistan and ask for Burnol. The pharmacist will definitely recognise the name, but will quickly tell you the iconic antiseptic cream that has often been fodder for memes has not been on the market for a couple of years. So where did it go? {THREAD}
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Remember Bio Amla? The owners of the iconic shampoo brand are currently having their properties auctioned off by the FBR over the non-payment of taxes worth over Rs 31 crores. Not to mention this would be the first auction of its kind.
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Just recently, World Bank provided a sobering statistic: the federal govt is spending almost Rs 328 billion a year on ministries that should rightfully have no need to exist
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Young doctors in Pakistan are being robbed blind. As one of the most highly skilled professionals they're overworked and underpaid. And without the right connections, a wealthy background, or access to the correct institutions setting up a private practice is next to impossible.
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In 2020, the Fauji Foundation appointed its first civilian CEO, who in turn replaced a number of retired generals as CEOs of Fauji subsidiaries. The results were increased profitability. Why then is another retired general taking over in 2024? {THREAD}
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Fauji Foods Ltd is a company notorious for never being profitable and relying on bailouts from the conglomerate’s more successful businesses to stay afloat. However, in an unexpected turn this year, the dairy company has finally turned a profit. 1/5
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Pakistan’s billion-dollar fund manager resigns quietly as SECP investigates suspicious transactions. Here’s what went down: 1/n
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On June 1st, prices of cooking oil were hiked by Rs213. The main reason? Every year we spend billions of dollars to import palm and soybean seeds needed to produce edible oil, when we could be growing them ourselves. How did we get here? Our story begins in the 1930s: {THREAD]
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It has been three days since the govt shut down 3G and 4G services following the arrest of Imran Khan. In this short period, the impact has been massive. Tens of thousands of gig and freelance workers have been hit as well as the PoS and telco infrastructure in Pakistan 1/2
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One has a hard time believing Finance Minister Ishaq Dar these days. Not because of any political differences or any doubts regarding his intentions, but simply because ever since he came in to office he has consistently proven to be wrong {THREAD}
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In 1955, Imtiaz started off as a Kiryana store in Bahadurabad. Inspired by Singaporean supermarket chain ‘Al-Mustafa’, Imtiaz’s founder sought to apply a similar product-oriented model in Pakistan. How has it maintained its success over the decades? Through branding {THREAD}
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On June 18th, the daughter of Seth Abid was murdered by her own son. The crime was a personal one. The backdrop to it, however, is a story of stock market fraud, smuggling, property disputes and the private tragedies of one of the richest families of Pakistan. {THREAD}
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Over the past few years, Khadi, Sapphire, Ethnic and many other fashion retail brands have launched their own perfumes. So where did this trend come from? The story goes back to 2005, and the man behind it was none other than Junaid Jamshed {THREAD}
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Yesterday, Engro returned Rs 23 billion to shareholders in dividends at a rate of 400%. The reason? The economy has gotten so bad that Engro has been unable to find any suitable avenue for large-scale investment. So what will Engro do now? {1/3}
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Nawaz Sharif claims he can save the economy. He has repeatedly pointed towards his party’s government from 2013-18 as proof of his competence as an economic manager. But did Sharif’s party save the economy back then, or did they get lucky and squander a huge opportunity? {THREAD}
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The biggest news in Pakistan today is the accord reached at COP27 to set-up a fund for the loss and damages faced by countries because of climate change. This marks a milestone in the demand for climate reparations by developing countries, and Pakistan has been at the helm. 1/2
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As the HBL PSL enters its eighth edition, it is clearer than ever that it is one of the best business decisions ever taken by the PCB. And while it is a cash cow for the board, it is not such a simple equation for the team owners. So is the PSL good for business? {THREAD}
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Ladies and gentlemen, Pakistan’s biggest oil marketing and distribution company, the Pakistan State Oil (PSO), is also a fintech company that is gunning to secure an EMI license, and it is also a Rs1.7 bn venture capital fund.
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There is no better time to go to the landa than this year. Prices will be low and products plentiful. But why? The story behind that has to do with the unique economy of Pakistan’s landa bazars that rely entirely on the economic concept of arbitrage {THREAD}
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Something is fishy on the PSX, and it has to do with the Regent Plaza in Karachi. The hotel is being sold to SIUT for a whopping Rs 14.5 billion - one of the largest real estate transactions in Pakistan. But could the transaction also possibly be the site of insider trading?
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1/8 Imagine buying a car without paying any interest. Sounds unbelievable, right? However, due to a combination of an industry-wide downturn, skyrocketing prices, and an overflow of stock, this is no longer a mere daydream.
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Surprised by news of Airlift scaling back its operations in smaller cities and giving 31% of their workforce the ax? Don’t be. This isn’t just an Airlift problem. It is a startup ecosystem problem - and the worst is yet to come. {Thread}
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K-Electric has a new owner and his name is Shaheryar Chishty. A former high-flying international banker and since 2011 the owner of Daewoo in Pakistan, Chishty now has ambitious plans to revolutionise KE. How will he do it? He claims by revolutionising Karachi itself.
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Worried about where to put your savings? Interest rates not beating inflation? Those plots you bought in DHA just not selling at a high price. Don’t worry because the solution might be getting into an early stage ponzi scheme, and there are plenty out there for you!
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Pakistan might have messed up its exports. Again. A recent consignment of rice shipped to Russia was stopped by their port authority because of the presence of an invasive insect. This could lead to a ban on Pakistani rice at a time when the rice market is wide open {THREAD}
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In the past 15 years, the PCB has pulled off a feat no other cricket board would even dream of: financially thriving without a bilateral relationship with the BCCI. But how has Pakistan managed to pull this off, and will it matter in the long-run for our finances? {THREAD}
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Civilian bosses seem to have run Fauji Foundation better than, well, Faujis. Why has the Foundation been given back to a retired general, then?
Read Profit's exclusive:
Is this the end of the civilian experiment at Fauji Foundation?
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Are you considering going solar? With electricity prices soaring, the threat of climate change looming, and power outages more frequent, why would you not? Solar power is inevitable and growing fast. But if you want to go solar, where do you start? {Thread}
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A wave of relief has spread over the country in the wake of the deal with the IMF. But it is easy to forget why things got this bad in the first place.
The 8 month delay leading us here has caused great economic anguish, and its architect has been Ishaq Dar. {THREAD: Analysis}
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Pizza Hut was the first intl fast food chain to enter Pakistan, opening their first outlet in 1993. KFC would not enter Pakistan until 1997 and McDonald's would not until a year after them in 1998, meaning Pizza Hut had first mover advantage.
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Pakistan’s cement sector is in for a treat as Afghanistan slashes coal export taxes. This could skyrocket the earnings of cement producers in the North by billions. Here's how it all happened. 🧵 1/
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Pakistan's largest edible oil producer is set to become even bigger! Dalda is planning to do what can only be described as the largest ever IPO by a consumer staple company in Pakistan, by selling 15% of its shares and potentially raising over Rs 4.6 billion.
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The new owners have promised to turn Pizza Hut's fortunes around and restore it to its iconic glory. Foo the full story, read on in this story by
@BabarEnthusiast
and
@_momash
here:
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Pakistan’s only aluminium beverage can manufacturer is off to a flying start. Founded in 2017, PABC posted earnings of Rs 2.71 billion for 2022 which was a 72% increase from the previous year. So what's next? {THREAD}
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A very real fear has taken root among investors and officials of Bahria Town alike: That the company is about to default. Behind this fear is a sharp decline in prices of plots and the Rs460 billion Bahria Town is supposed to pay to the Supreme Court. {THREAD}
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Babar Azam is the biggest brand ambassador for English sport manufacturer Gray Nicolls. But despite having a facility in Pakistan and having its captain as their mascot, they don’t sell their bats in Pakistan. Why? Because local manufacturers just can’t be beat.
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Panadol is panagone. The brand-name drug for paracetamol in Pakistan has been difficult to find for the past couple of months, and its shortage has been shrouded in mystery. So where did it go? Is it too expensive to make or being hoarded as the govt claims? {THREAD}
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The Gangs of Inflation
Cost Push or Demand Pull? Low interest rate or higher? سیب چھری پہ یا چھری سیب پہ؟
Profit Explains, with help from Pakistan’s Paper of Record, The Dependent.
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1/ PTCL group and Telenor have signed a share purchase agreement, transferring 100% equity of Telenor Pakistan (Pvt) Limited to PTCL Group for Rs 108 billion. The move marks the long-awaited exit of Telenor from Pakistan.
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Towellers is a unique company. The Pakistani textile exporter has been doubling its profits for the last 3 years. Its earning/share has increased 10x from Rs14 in 2020 to Rs140 in 2023. But the company’s share price is only slightly above the 2020 levels. Could it be intentional?
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Hosting the 9th HBL PSL outside Pakistan will be a financial disaster. While the PCB wants to shift the tournament to cut costs, they are already facing opposition from the franchises. To understand this fully, we need to look at how the HBL PSL makes money. {THREAD}
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Pakistan, IMF reach staff level agreement, statement expected by tonight: sources.
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Power Division prepares a plan to establish Performance Monitoring Units in every Disco that will be headed by a serving brigadier and will have officials from FIA and IB
READ:
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Miftah Ismail says the import ban will not affect sanitary napkins or raw materials used in their production after Santex claimed Butterfly pads might become unavailable in Pak. But did you know Pakistan’s pad market has undergone a tectonic shift in the past few years? {Thread}
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How would you feel if you had to pay for someone else’s electricity bill? That’s what millions of Pakistanis are doing every month. They are subsidising the free electricity units of some government employees.
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It started with a dream: to build 5 million houses for low-income families. Yet in the 4 years since its launch, the Naya Pakistan Housing Program has only managed to begin construction on 172,489 houses - 3.4% of the target. And even that number is criminally misleading {THREAD}
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In what is becoming a very clear pattern, the finance minister is being undermined by Ishaq Dar. Dar has replaced Mr Aurangzeb in the Council of Common Interests. But what exactly will the foreign minister do in a committee meant for inter-provincial coordination? {THREAD}
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Pakistan's solar revolution is at stake. The government's flagship project, a 660 MW solar plant at Kot Addu-Muzaffargarh, has failed to attract any bidders. Why? And what can be done to save it?
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For a long time they dominated the market. There was no demand for pizza in Pakistan before the arrival of Pizza Hut, meaning they were catering to demand they created. Almost immediately, local competitors did pop up but none of them managed to come close to scale of Pizza Hut.
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In the world of Candy, the competition is far from sweet. Pakistan’s sweet snacks market is dominated by two players: English Biscuits Manufacturers of Sooper Biscuits fame and Cadbury owner Mondelez. But there is a third competitor fast catching up: Ismail Industries {THREAD}
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For most people, the price of the KIA Stonic dropping by Rs 15 lakhs overnight was an adjustment that should have come a long time ago. But what they don’t realise is that KIA was essentially pushed into a corner through regulatory lobbying until they had to take the risk.
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They say better late than never. After eight months of delays, uncertainty, market confidence being shot, and the ominous cloud of default looming, Pakistan has reached an agreement with the IMF.
The question is, what happens now? Here is everything you need to know. {THREAD}
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Finance Minister now chairs only one committee, a departure from three out of four committees
Read:
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Khaadi officially announces that IFC is to invest up to $25 million in the organization as its first major investment in Pakistan's retail fashion industry.
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On February 18th, the owner of one of the largest trucking networks based out of Lahore was gunned down in the middle of a wedding. Balaj Tipu, the son of Tipu Truckanwalan was the fourth successive generation of his family to be murdered. But why? {THREAD}
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Pak Suzuki announced their decision to buyback its shares in the market causing the share price to go from Rs 136 in October to Rs 673 by January leading to a return of more than 500%. Even though the company has given a base price of Rs 406 per share. Why the difference? 1/6
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Four in five businesses in Pakistan anticipate a better future: Gallup survey
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The first real sense of competition from another intl pizza chain came in 2009 when Domino's opened their first outlet. A popular name that had done well in India, they made quite a splash. However, Pizza Hut was far too big at this point to let them get a foothold in the market.
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"Today, there is a large & persistent difference between the open market and the interbank exchange rates. This suggests that SBP is informally guiding banks on the exchange rate. The large difference is also detrimental to our exports & remittances & is encouraging imports"(1/2)
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In 2012, Domino's hired Ahsan Ahmed as their CEO. Ahsan had been working as the Business Development head of Pizza Hut for 7 years before this. In a three year stint, he used his knowledge of the industry to cut costs, bring operational profitability and grew the franchise by 70%
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Something is rotten in Karachi's People's Bus Service. The service is being run and managed by the National Radio Transmission Company (NRTC) instead of by the Sindh Mass Transit Authority (SMTA). So why is a federal hardware company running a provincial transit project? {THREAD}
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Something strange is happening on the stock exchange. In the past few days, many companies from different sectors have all announced an increase in their authorised share capital. The reason? Potential corporate taxes that may be levied in the upcoming budget. 1/12
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Pepsi, once considered the preferred drink of Pakistan, has been dethroned. In 2023, CocaCola sold nearly 50 million litres more than Pepsi. But in overall sales of all brands, Pepsico still outsold Coke Pakistan because of one simple reason: Sting.
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In this video OpEd hydrologist and engineer Dr Hassan Abbas systematically dismantles the arguments for big dams, be it storage, power generation or flood control.
Watch full video:
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After the departure of Bjarke Mikkelsen from Pakistan's e-Commerce giant Daraz as CEO, layoffs, including in higher management, are anticipated in hundreds as the company aims to trim costs. 1/10
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In 1999 Gen Musharraf took over a country in economic peril. By the time he left in 2008 Pakistan was in crisis again. Yet the years in between saw a great boom in the economy. But which part of this history represents Musharraf’s economic legacy? The boom or the bust? {THREAD}
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After foodpanda's downsizing spree last year, in the latest series of layoffs, eCommerce platform Daraz has slashed 11%, while Byte has laid off about 30% of their workforces. The rising job insecurity in the startup sector can be attributed to two factors.
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The unprecedented fluctuation saw the dollar go from Rs 319 to 334 in six days and then from there, down to Rs 304 in the following four days.
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From 2012 to 2022, Domino's grew from those initial 13 branches to 62. Other competitors also entered, shrinking Pizza Hut's share in the market they had created. In 2017, Pizza Hut announced a plan to inject $3mil and double the amount of their franchises over the next 5 years.
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In the first four years, Domino's spent a lot on opening 13 branches and giving cheap deals to acquire customers. And although their sales were around Rs. 2mil per month from 13 outlets in Pakistan, their operational losses were somewhere around 33%. That's when they regrouped.
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In 10 years, something monumental will happen. Somewhere in a Lahore suburb, a village in Sindh, or the walled city of Peshawar the last person that was a legal adult at partition will breathe their last, and the first generation of Pakistanis will die out. {THREAD}
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In 2009 Malik Riaz launched the Bahria Icon Tower - a 62-storey high skyscraper that would be Pakistan’s tallest building. 13 years later it stands deserted. Mired in messy court cases, Bahria Town may be looking to sell. But is the tower too tainted to go on the market? {THREAD}
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Pakistan's textile industry, once a global leader in exports to the Gulf, Europe, and the US, has seen a decline over two decades. Introduction of GMO cotton in 2005 marked a high-output era, but competition from Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Cambodia surged ahead by 2022.
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