KARACHI, Nov 5 (Focus Pakistan) - Ghandhara Automobiles Ltd’s Port Qasim plant built 11,673 vehicles last fiscal year, topping its 11,000-unit single-shift capacity with overtime, as group profit climbed more than 17-fold in two years.
The question now: can that boom justify a Rs2.3 billion paint-shop expansion?
GAL laid out the figures in a corporate briefing deck it filed with the Pakistan Stock Exchange for a Nov. 5 session. Group profit after tax hit Rs6.42 billion in the year ended June 30, 2026, 57% more than the year before. Two years earlier, the group earned just Rs365 million. On a standalone basis, GAL lost Rs258 million in FY24.
The board paid a final cash dividend of Rs12 a share, credited on Oct. 21. That works out to roughly 11% of consolidated earnings per share of Rs112.58, a lean payout in a year when GAL also lined up a big spending plan.
A Rs2.3 Billion Bet on the Paint Shop
On Sept. 17, GAL told the Pakistan Stock Exchange it would expand its existing paint shop, at an estimated cost of Rs2.3 billion.
The November deck shows the work under way. Civil works have started, and GAL has begun buying equipment. It expects to finish before next June. The deck also lists a new robotics topcoat line to lift paint quality, productivity and cost efficiency, but gives no cost breakdown for it.
Also Read: Toyota Pakistan Warns Car Sales Could Fall Despite 34% Surge
Last year’s output of 11,673 compares with 7,799 the year before, up by half. Not every one of those vehicles carried a GAL badge. The total counts Isuzu trucks and pickups the plant builds for another company on contract. Management also credits savings from its solar plant for part of the margin gain.
Q1: Faster Still
Between July and September, sales reached Rs15.73 billion. That’s one-third of what the group sold in all of FY26.
Profit for the quarter came to Rs2.53 billion, up 51% on the Rs1.67 billion GAL booked in the same three months of 2025. At Rs44.31, quarterly EPS already covers close to 40% of last year’s full count.
Margins fattened too. Gross margin hit 23.1% for the quarter; for full-year FY26 it stood at 20.4%. On a standalone basis, it touched 24.9%, the highest in the six periods the deck covers and triple the FY22 level.
Trucks Do the Heavy Lifting
Ghandhara DF, the Dongfeng arm, did much of the lifting. Its revenue climbed 62% to Rs19.1 billion, and profit almost doubled, to Rs2.1 billion.
Heavy trucks: 1,113 sold, against 710. Light commercial sales more than doubled to 1,013. JAC double-cabin and pickup sales climbed to 3,915 from 3,245.
At the parent level, JAC commercial vehicle sales jumped to 2,767 units from 1,472 and added Rs6.2 billion in revenue.
The standalone balance sheet stays light. Equity funds 62% of Rs21 billion in assets, and debt only 3%. On Oct. 19, rating agency PACRA lifted the company’s long-term rating to A+ from A.
Three Numbers Investors Should Watch
First, customer advances. Standalone advances fell by Rs7.04 billion, the main reason current liabilities dropped 54%. That raises questions about the pace of new bookings and deliveries. PACRA noted that GAL’s working capital cycle lengthened as advances unwound. The company did not disclose its outstanding order backlog.
Second, concentration. One customer generated Rs5.78 billion, or 12.3% of group revenue. A year earlier, no buyer crossed the 10% line. The company did not name the customer.
Third, policy. All of GAL’s sales come from Pakistan. Management flags duty and tax changes and growing pressure to shift toward electric vehicles. The new auto policy for 2026-31 won in-principle approval in September, PACRA said, but the deck still lists its formal announcement as pending.
The Real Question
GAL has proved it can ride a demand recovery. In two years it swung from a standalone loss to a standalone profit of Rs3.47 billion.
The Rs2.3 billion paint shop shifts the test. GAL now has to prove the upgraded plant can deliver lasting returns, even if the steep growth of the past two years starts to cool.
