Textile Giant Gul Ahmed Shifts Focus Amid Rising Costs and Fierce Competition
Gul Ahmed Textile Mills to Restructure, Focus on Core Segments After Export Apparel Closure
Gul Ahmed Textile Mills Limited (GATM), one of Pakistan's largest textile manufacturers, has announced the discontinuation of its export apparel segment. The decision, revealed in a notice to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Tuesday, September 29, 2025, follows a comprehensive strategic review that highlighted persistent operational losses. The company cited a combination of rising costs, unfavorable government policy changes, intense regional competition, and a stronger exchange rate as key factors undermining the segment's profitability and making it unsustainable.
The textile giant explained that its export apparel segment, being highly labor-intensive, has been particularly vulnerable to sustained margin pressures. Factors such as increased advance turnover tax, escalating costs of nominated fabrics, and elevated energy tariffs collectively eroded the segment's cost structure and profitability, leading to continuous operational losses. Gul Ahmed believes this "strategic closure" will positively impact its financials by reducing ongoing losses, lowering borrowing levels, and improving cash flow management, ultimately strengthening the company's overall financial position.
Gul Ahmed clarified that this decision solely pertains to the export apparel segment, and its operations in other principal segments, including home textiles, spinning, and weaving, will continue. The company, which began manufacturing as GATM in 1953 and became a public limited entity in 1955, has a strong presence in both manufacturing and retail, with over 40 stores nationwide. This strategic shift aims to enable greater focus on sustainable growth in its remaining core business areas.
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