Treet is one of Pakistan’s grand old companies. Established in the 1950s, the company has spent most of its history dominating its core business interests: razor blades and soap. With more than 85% in market share, Treet Corp has very much been a Pakistani success story. But as time passes, grand old companies often suffer from very typical symptoms.
When any company that begins to dominate the market to great extent, it is understood that any effort to grow further will have diminishing marginal returns. The effort and resources being used do not yield the same results as they once did. This is usually the point when companies get complacent or start to take success for granted. Oftentimes, when such businesses are family owned, the emergence of these symptoms coincide with the entrance of the second or third generation onto the scene.
That is when the real test begins. On the one hand there is the question of the new generation itself. Is it made of the same iron as the preceding generations that built the business up? On the other hand there is the other big question that successful businesses face: what is the best way to expand and grow after you have already won one market?
When Syed Sheharyar Ali joined Treet Corp in the early 2000s, these were the exact questions he was asking himself. He initially joined as an executive director and began working under his father who was Chief Executive Officer of Treet at the time. The burden of his legacy would not have been lost on him. Sheharyar and the Treet Corporation belong to what is Pakistan’s most illustrious business family — the scions of Syed Wazir Ali.
With names such as Syed Maratib Ali, Syed Babar Ali, and Syed Wajid Ali in the family’s list of many iconic business leaders, Sheharyar came in with a vision and a desire to prove himself. And since his entry into the business his go to strategy has been diversification.
From 2006 onwards, Treet has looked to diversify by establishing new businesses under the umbrella of Treet Corporation. Going from blades and soaps, it set up manufacturing plants for corrugated boxes, assembly lines for two and three wheelers, a pharmaceutical company and a battery manufacturing business.
All of these ventures have seen varying levels of success. Sheharyar’s belief in diversification has reduced Treet Corp’s dependence on a single product and has allowed new revenue streams to be created which would prove to be profitable in the future. At the same time, not all of the diversification efforts have paid off. What has remained, however, is Sheharyar’s belief in doing new things.
This time around, his strategy is to rely on his existing portfolio of products and simply begin producing new products that are relevant to them. Treet blades, for example, is looking to expand through a line of grooming products for men and women such as shaving creams, facewashes, deodorants, and lipbalms. The idea is two fold. On the one hand, Treet makes razorblades so it makes sense that they would want to try to sell shaving gel as well. But it goes deeper than that. Not only are they introducing new products such as razors geared towards women (they’ve given it the snazzy name Estela), the company is also pitching products that do not have anything to do with shaving such as facewash or lipbalm. What these products are relevant to, however, is grooming and self care. This diversification effort is an entrance into the self care market which is growing in Pakistan much like it is growing internationally. If their products are received well by the market, lines of facewashes and other such products could see a lot more diversification.
Sheharyar’s plans for Treet battery, on the other hand, are to set up a lithium ion battery plant in collaboration with a Chinese company. The collaboration with the Chinese will give Treet the necessary expertise to manufacture these batteries, but the move is clearly hedging on the fact that as the fire of solar energy continues to blaze through the country, people will eventually grow tired of the grid and move towards lithium batteries. Indeed, early signs indicate that most lower income solar users prefer to stay off grid. Cheap, high quality, locally manufactured batteries that are readily available might help build this market, but it will require the ability to scale in time.
The question is, will it work? Profit spoke with Sheharyar to understand his plans, and to ask him what the future holds now that one of his competitors, Procter & Gamble, is leaving Pakistan.
A brief history
The roots of Treet go further back than the history of Pakistan itself. Its patron was Syed Wazir Ali who established Wazir Industries which looked to serve the needs of the British troops in pre-partition India. Later on, his son; Syed Maratib Ali, grew the business by supplying goods to the Raj as well. After the subcontinent was partitioned, Syed Babar Ali and Syed Wajid Ali took over their father’s business. Syed Babar Ali went on to start the Packages group while Wajid Ali was the one who established the Treet Group.
Treet started off as a car assembler for the Ford Car Company in South Asia going on to manufacturing oil and vegetable ghee under the name of Khopra Oil Mills. It was the foray into carbon steel blades business which proved to be the catalyst for the growth and success of the company later on. The steel blade business started with the Hyderabad plant in 1954. The primary reason for the success of the company was the fact that safety razors had been invented in the world recently and there was a dearth of suppliers who were providing these blades on a local scale.
The market that existed was barely catered to by local producers while the market was dominated by international suppliers who were selling at a higher premium to the locals. In such an environment, the market was begging for a supplier who could provide high quality blades at low prices. Enter Treet.
Treet was able to fill a gap that existed in the market as it was able to produce high quality steel blades at a fraction of the price of its international competitors. Treet ended up making a fortune by supplying these blades all over the country. It did not matter whether it was a barber shaving people under the shade of a tree in a rural setting or was based in a saloon at a high end hotel. Everyone was using these blades on a daily basis.
The success of the company was solidified as it opened up a stainless steel plant in Lahore in 1984 and also established disposable razors in 1986 as consumer trends moved towards those. By 1996, Treet was exporting its blades outside the country and 2000 saw the company launch industrial blades for all machinery and hard tools as well.
It is evident that Treet was becoming large in size with its sales and domination of the market. Still, it was felt that the company was becoming too dependent on one product alone and that something different had to be done. As Shehryar entered Treet, he felt that diversification was the next step that needed to be taken.
Diversification was contemplated as it would use the resources being generated from the blade business and could help develop a new business which will stand on its own feet and then compliment the revenue stream of one business alone. The company already had a strong brand name and this could be used in conjunction with its financial position to create a new brand which could make the company stable and sustainable in the future.
The diversification begins
The first company which was established under the new agenda was one of corrugated packages in 2006. This was the first time Treet ventured into a new business under the leadership of Shehryar who had worked under his uncle Babar Ali at Packages. Bringing his skills and experience into Treet learned at Packages, Shehryar tried to set up a similar business at Treet.
With new opportunities being available, the next business that was contemplated was a three and two wheeler bike assembly plant which was established under the name of Global Econo Trade (Private) Limited.
While the diversification was in its early phases, Treet was faced with a serious situation. There was a trend of people keeping beards which started to become fashionable around this time. On the face of it, the company saw its revenues grow from Rs 6 billion in 2018 to Rs 10 billion in 2023. However, the inflation during this period came to around 70% which meant that the company sold less blades as the price increase rationalized the increase in the revenues.
This can be proven by the fact that in 2018, the company produced 2 billion blades translating to revenues of Rs 6 billion. In 2023, the company produced 1.7 billion blades and ended up earning revenues of Rs 10 billion which shows that fewer blades were sold leading to higher revenues.
Seeing this state in terms of its blade sales, the next step was to look towards the battery and pharmaceutical sector. This culminated into the acquisition of Renacon Pharma in 2017 and a battery manufacturing plant being established in 2018 with Daewoo Batteries. With an investment of Rs 6.25 billion, a factory was made over a 40 acre facility in Faisalabad.
The performance of many of these ventures failed to bear fruit. Was it for a lack of expertise in these sectors? Shehryar does not see it that way. “Our decision to diversify into new industries was part of a well-defined strategy, and the ventures we entered into are all doing well. We are especially proud of the performance of our battery business, which has performed very strongly in the last financial year despite industry turmoil, as well as our pharma business, where we see many growth opportunities in the near future,” he says.
In terms of financial performance, it will be beneficial to shine a light on two areas where Treet is looking to develop their interests further. One is the battery segment where the company has recently signed an agreement with Highstar Digital Energy Technology (Guangdon) Ltd. to import and carry out sale of lithium-ion batteries in Pakistan. The other development is the launch of a new personal care line that will be launched by Treet.
What will be the impact of these developments? For that, there needs to be an understanding of where Treet Battery and Treet currently stand.
Financial overview
Based on the success rate of the company, the performance of each of the divisions can be broken down one by one. In terms of the battery business, the plant started operations in 2018 and has seen its revenues grow from Rs 1.8 billion in 2019 to Rs 8.2 billion in 2023. Treet Battery has been able to earn operational profits, however, high finance costs have meant that it has suffered losses through most of its history.
Revenues that had been growing steadily since 2018 suddenly hit a huge hitch. In 2024 and 2025, the battery division has struggled to cross the Rs 9 billion mark. The reason for this is the change in consumer behaviour that has taken place. In 2018, there was a demand for batteries as they were being used for UPS connections and cars. Treet was also able to strike a deal with Hyundai and KIA which meant that locally produced cars would have Daewoo batteries installed in them. As demand for cars was increasing, so were the sales for Treet battery.
As inflation started to set in, cars started to become expensive and with a drive towards solarization, the pillars on which demand for batteries was standing started to become shaky. As electricity outages started to fall and people moved towards use of solar energy, the demand stagnated for the company. Shehryar still felt that Treet was able to weather the storm and was still seeing consistent sales when other companies had suffered more.
“The battery business experienced exponential topline growth and enhanced bottom line efficiency in 2023 following new senior management’s appointment and a comprehensive turnaround strategy. Revenue growth and profitability were balanced, focusing on operational profits despite high policy rates and macroeconomic turmoil,” explains Sheharyar.
One of the biggest costs that was faced by Treet in 2024 and 2025 was its finance cost which made up around 14% of sales in 2024 and 10% of sales in 2025. This was the biggest challenge as it was eating into most of the gross margins that Treet battery was able to earn.
The results for Treet battery for 2024 show that the company was able to make sales of Rs 8.7 billion and was able to retain Rs 1.7 billion in terms of its gross profits. After taking other costs into account, operating profit came in at around Rs 85 crores. From this, an expense of Rs 1.3 billion was recorded as finance cost. This led to the company earning a loss per share of Rs 0.43. In 2025, the situation has improved slightly as sales came at around Rs 8.8 billion while gross profits increased slightly to Rs 1.77 billion. Once other expenses were accounted for, the operating profit increased to Rs 97 crores. In 2025, finance costs decreased to Rs 92 crores which meant that Treet battery was able to show a profit of Rs 4 crores translating to a profit per share of Rs 0.05.
In terms of the blades business, the revenues stood at Rs 10 billion in 2023 which have further improved to Rs 12.6 billion in 2025. In addition to that, the company has seen its gross profit margin increase from 32% in 2023 to 36.5% in 2025 which further shows that Treet is following a principle of low volume and high margin. Even in the face of falling sales, Treet has been able to expand its margins on the products while cutting down its costs.
Breaking down its performance year on year, the company earned revenues of almost Rs 11 billion in 2024 which became Rs 3.2 billion in gross margin. Based on sales in 2023, the gross margins were consistent, however, in terms of gross margin, the ratio fell from 32% in 2023 to 28.8% in 2024.Increasing cost of raw materials meant that the company saw shrinking profit margins for the year.
This decline was also seen in operating margin as well which fell from 13.8% in 2023 to 8.3% in 2024. The biggest cost faced by Treet was its finance cost which was around 17% of its sales causing net profit margin to become negative at -1.73%.
From 2024 to 2025, the situation was improving. First of all, the revenues increased by 15% seeing revenues go from Rs 11 billion to Rs 12.6 billion in 2025. Another positive development was that the company saw its gross margins improve from 28.8% in 2024 to 36.5% in 2025.
Another reason for optimism around the company and its results was higher administrative and marketing expenses due to inflation in the country. These costs were compounded by interest rate expenses which were increasing as interest rates were increasing in 2023 and 2024. June 2024 saw the highest interest rates in the country in the history of 22%. Even with increasing direct costs, the operating margins increased from 8.3% in 2024 to 12.2% in 2025.
The biggest improvement was seen in the net margins as the finance costs fell from Rs 1.8 billion in 2024 to Rs 1.2 billion in 2025. In terms of percentage of sales, the finance costs went from 17% of sales to 9.7% of sales. The fall in the borrowing costs could be seen in the net margin which went from -1.7% in 2024 to 8.3% in 2025.
Based on the analysis, it can be seen that both Treet blades and Treet battery were seeing better results in recent years and that things were on the mend. What these results fail to reflect are the two new progressions that are taking place.
The advancement slated to take place
As already mentioned, Treet battery has recently signed a deal with Highstar in order to import and sell lithium-ion batteries in the country. The deal would mean that Treet battery would be the first company which will venture into a segment of the market which has not been capitalized on by any of the other listed local producers. Lithium batteries are seen to be a fast growing segment which will be developed in conjunction with the lead-acid batteries that Treet already produces. Highstar is a recognized global manufacturer which will help Treet battery build its own presence and brand in the local market.
The move can be seen as Treet battery entering a market which will develop and flourish in the future. After the solarization drive, there is an expectation that consumers will start to go off-grid in terms of their preference in the future. Currently, a lot of these customers are on-grid which means that there is no need to store the energy that is produced. There are rumors surrounding the fact that the viability of these solar systems can come under threat if and when the government stops the net metering measure that is in place.
In case that happens, consumers will start to install lithium batteries in order to store the excess energy by going off-grid. This is where Treet battery will be able to capitalize on the situation and see their sales grow.
The need to grow and diversify is something Shehryar has stuck to from the day he entered into Treet. After seeing mixed results in his other ventures, he is going back to the basics. Growing a new product portfolio inline with the expertise and experience of Treet blades itself. After looking towards other areas of growth, he has found his next move to be related to something that Treet does best. Grooming and personal care products.
After 2023, Shehryar saw that there was a huge chunk of the market that was not being catered to. There was a class of people who could afford to buy expensive shaving products produced by the likes of Gillette while there was a lower class which was being catered to by Treet blades already. Between these two groups was a large chunk of the middle class who could not afford the imported products or rely on the low quality of the local options. In this situation, Treet decided to launch a shaving foam and a line of new disposable razors.
“The premium shaving market in Pakistan has historically been under-served, with few options and unreliability of product availability. There is also a lack of options at intermediate price points, and for reliable options for females. At Treet, we feel that our 70+ year expertise in blade manufacture places us ideally to fill these gaps. The personal care market is similar, and while good options for male customers are now starting to become available in the premium segments, there is still a gap in the mid-market and value conscious segments. As Treet, it makes sense for use to provide the entire range of grooming solutions for our customers.”
The biggest attraction of this line of business was that the quality of product that was being produced was comparable to the imported products while they cost half of what a Gillette would cost. Shehryar had stepped into the future by going into Treet’s past. This was the same strategy that had been used in the 50s when Treet started to manufacture its steel blades. Produce a high quality product at a lower price point.
“Our new venture is a first for the shaving industry of Pakistan. For the first time, both male and female customers will have a full range of personal grooming products available to them under a single umbrella, with a variety of options suited to various age groups, grooming needs, and budgets.”
He further adds: “Following the introduction of our new product range in Pakistan, we will also be expanding beyond Pakistan, offering the same world class solutions to our existing and new customers in international markets. With an existing export footprint in 30+ countries, we are very excited to offer the Genesis and Estela range to our customers in international markets, in addition to our existing Treet and Femina brands.”
The recent launch of shaving foam is now going to be complemented with a launch of a new product portfolio which will provide further reasonably priced options to the middle class of the country. Treet decided to take aim at the product portfolio of Gillette.
The product line has been named Genesis as they hope that this would be the origin of its next big thing that will take the country by storm. Treet has developed a series of razors which use cartridges which can be replaced and have multiple blades for a smoother and closer shave. In addition to that, there are razors with better handles, light to carry and smart in their functionality.
In terms of the size of this segment, Shehryar places the global shaving industry to have a value of $12 billion and feels that Treet can tap into the local and international market. “We have studied both the local and the international shaving markets at length during the process of selecting which products and markets to prioritise. With the global shaving market currently sitting at $12 billion, we are confident that Treet and now Genesis and Estella will be able to carve out its niche among the same.”
The launch culminates with a mix of current staff and new personnel who have experience in this field and will bring fresh ideas to the table.
Just like Gillette, the target market has been expanded to cater to women as well with the launch of Estela line of razors for the different needs and skin types of women.
Treet is going to bring the new products in line with the launch of its previous line of razors called swift which looked to cater to the lower end of the market. Now it has complemented with an all out launch which will look to provide cheaper options to the market where none existed before.
The line of products does not end at razors alone. Treet has also developed a face wash for women under the Estela range while the Genesis series will see a charcoal facewash, lip balm, deodorant, shaving and moisturizing gel for men as well.
According to the company’s announcement to the exchange, “(Genesis and Estela) are being developed by the Company’s in-house Innovation Department and are envisioned to offer a comprehensive range of shaving, grooming, and personal care products. The new product lines will include 1-5 blade system/disposable shaving razors, premium double-edge blades, shaving gels/foams, deodorants, and other grooming essentials, designed to meet the expectations of modem consumers in terms of quality, comfort, and style for both men and women.”
Men’s personal care products have long been an untapped area as there was a stigmatisation that was attached to men using any such products “The de-stigmatisation of personal care in the men’ s market has started to cut across all social strata in Pakistan – this is a very positive development. With Treet’s position as a brand of choice in the barber segment, we are naturally well positioned to take advantage of this in the mass market. Additionally, with the launch of Genesis, we feel that providing users with premium product options at great prices from a Pakistani company is a unique combination which, along with our existing distribution network, gives us an excellent opportunity to be the brand of choice for men from all backgrounds, with all kinds of grooming needs.”
The seeds of this launch can be traced back two to three years ago when Shehryar decided to continue with his diversification theme taking over the company. What set the new venture apart was the fact that rather than looking towards new industries and avenues, Treet was going to do what it knew best. Develop a high quality product that already exists in the market and then find a way to sell it at a much lower price.
Taking its template from Procter & Gamble, Treet looked to develop a new series of products that could be produced at a cheaper price and then set out to do it. Something that will further improve the success rate of the launch is the fact that Gillette has recently announced that it will close its manufacturing locally and move towards a retail based model. Three years ago, no one could have guessed that Gillette would take a drastic step. Now it seems that their loss will end up being Treet’s gain as they look to take over a larger chunk of the market that they did not have before.
Commenting on the departure of Gillette, Shehryar says that “Gillette is a historic company with great heritage and it is a pity to see them exiting Pakistan as we believe good competition gives us the energy to try even harder to deliver world class solutions to our customers. That said, we are a proudly Pakistani company with a heritage in Pakistan of 72 years and counting, and we look forward to continuing to serve our customers in Pakistan and in overseas markets for many years to come. With the launch of Genesis which would be at par with Gillette we are confident to take further share.”
The success of the battery division and the blades business will have to be seen once both these developments become operational. What can be said with some certainty is the fact that Treet is poised to take advantage of both segments and that things can be expected to improve for both companies going forward.
