KARACHI: The manufacturers of essential foreign items in Pakistan have not experienced significant declines, unlike foreign soft drink, mineral water, and fast food sales, which have been adversely affected by consumer boycott in response to the massacre of thousands of Palestinians by Israeli forces over the past year.

For example, Nestlé Pakistan’s sales for the nine months ended Sept 30 stood at Rs149.2 billion, reflecting a decline of meagre 1.3pc compared to Rs151bn in the same period last year. However, the company’s profit-after-tax (PAT) plunged 29.50pc to Rs12.2bn from Rs15.8bn the previous year.

Nestle said this was a decline primarily influenced by the implementation of taxes in the Finance Act, passed on to consumers, leading to price hikes and reduced demand. Additionally, challenges such as rising commodity and........

© Dawn Business