ISLAMABAD: Khyber Tobacco Company (KTC) is the first national cigarette manufacturing company which fully implemented the Track and Trace system and publicly supported the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) initiative to curb the illicit trade in the tobacco sector.
During the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of shareholders of the KTC, hundreds of shareholders turned out for the meeting and were given a detailed presentation by the management, led by Chief Executive Officer Samera Irfan. This is now the third year under the leadership of the new independent CEO.
Whilst many shareholders at the meeting were from Pakistan, it was interesting to note that the company’s second and third largest shareholders are a leading insurance company and an Ottoman Prince.
It will come as a surprise to many that Prince Omer Abdul Majid Namouk has a sizeable, shareholding at KTC.
Prince Omer is known to have travelled to Pakistan and invested in KTC shares.
Details revealed here on Tuesday that the KTC was set up as a publicly listed company, based in Mardan, KPK and listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange. It has now grown to become Pakistan’s third largest cigarette manufacturing companies. KTC is the only publicly listed cigarette manufacturing company which is majority owned by Pakistani nationals and corporates, with a minority foreign shareholding. The two other publicly listed cigarette companies are majority foreign owned companies, hence multinationals.
KTC is the only national company which contributes the most taxes, more than all other national companies combined together.
It also holds the title for being the only cigarette company which publicly supported the implementation of Track and Trace to curb the illicit trade in the cigarette sector. KTC has been long fighting legal battles against the menace of counterfeiting, duty evasion and smuggling of famous international brands.
Being the first cigarette company to implement Track and Trace, Khyber Tobacco Company achieved another milestone ahead of multinationals. No other National company has so far implemented the track and trace system and they continue to bring legal challenges to delay its implementation.
Samera Irfan, CEO of KTC is the first female CEO of a cigarette company and one of only a handful CEO’s ever to have run a major publicly listed company.
KTC is a major player in the cigarette manufacturing industry and a rarity in that it complies with all laws responsibly.
Khyber Tobacco is rapidly changing and expanding under the able leadership of Samera Irfan and looks eager to continue growth for the company and increase value for its shareholders.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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