Pakistan's corporate sector recorded a 25 per cent increase in profits during the first nine months of 2026, marking its strongest earnings performance in three years, according to figures released by the Ministry of Finance. In a statement issued in Islamabad on Wednesday, the ministry reported that corporate profits rose by 25 per cent year on year during January to September 2026.
The ministry said overall profits across sectors increased by 18 per cent year on year during the 2026 financial year. The engineering sector recorded the highest growth, with profits surging by 304 per cent, while oil marketing companies posted growth of more than 144 per cent. Profits in oil and gas exploration and production rose by more than 43 per cent, and technology companies recorded an increase of more than 31 per cent.
The Finance Ministry said the increase in corporate earnings reflected improvements in the country's economic fundamentals. The sector-wise data pointed to broad-based growth, with increases recorded across industries ranging from technology and automobiles to pharmaceuticals, cement and fertilisers.
The ministry's figures are corroborated by a separate analysis from brokerage Arif Habib Limited, published on 30 October, which found that KSE-100 index companies recorded a 26 per cent year-on-year increase in profitability to Rs1.638 trillion during the first nine months of calendar year 2026. That report, based on 85 companies representing about 96 per cent of the KSE-100 index's weight, found exploration and production companies posted the strongest contribution, with profitability surging 64 per cent to Rs420 billion.
In the brokerage's analysis, commercial banks remained the largest contributor to overall corporate earnings, with combined profits of Rs497 billion, up 1 per cent on the year. Refineries recorded one of the sharpest increases, with combined earnings surging nearly 40-fold to Rs56 billion, while the fertiliser sector rose 23 per cent to Rs151 billion and automobile assemblers recorded a 25 per cent increase to Rs55 billion.
The strong corporate figures sit alongside a much harsher picture for ordinary Pakistanis. International financial institutions say more than 40 per cent of the country's population has fallen below the poverty line in 2026, and that Pakistan has the region's lowest growth rate. A recent World Bank report identified exceptionally steep increases in the prices of electricity, gas and other fuels as the leading causes of rising poverty.
The contrast between record corporate earnings and deepening poverty is one of the defining features of Pakistan's economy at present. Energy companies have benefited from high prices, while households have borne the cost of those same prices in their electricity and gas bills. The Finance Ministry's statement presents the profit growth as evidence of improving fundamentals; critics point to the poverty figures as evidence that the recovery has not reached most people.
For investors, the earnings season has been encouraging, with the KSE-100's constituent companies now on track for one of their strongest years. Whether that strength can be sustained will depend on energy prices, interest rates and the government's fiscal position, all of which remain under pressure.
The figures in this post were checked at 09:08 PKT on Friday 13 November 2026.
This post is market news information only, not financial advice.
