Slow year for profit growth, as KSE-100 companies see income rise by 5.3%

Pakistan’s listed heavyweights managed to grow their bottom lines in 2025 – but only just. In a new sector-by-sector review of KSE-100 profitability, Arif Habib Limited (AHL) finds that the index’s aggregate net income rose 5.3% year-on-year in calendar year 2025 (CY25), reaching Rs1.56 trillion.

That headline figure comes with two important caveats. First, AHL’s dataset covers 69 companies, representing about 83% of the KSE-100’s market capitalisation (and “83% of the index weightage”, in the broker’s phrasing). Second, the year ended on a softer note: AHL records that KSE-100 profitability fell 2% YoY in 4QCY25, to Rs383 billion, hinting at the drag from still-tight demand conditions and uneven sector dynamics.

Still, the bigger story is what happened above and below the tax line.

AHL puts full-year KSE-100 net income (profit after tax) at Rs1,558 billion – up 5.3% YoY.

Over the same period, the index’s pretax income (profit before tax) climbed faster: AHL calculates Rs2,863 billion of pretax income in CY25, up 8.2% YoY.