SE Fruits and Vegetables IPO: fresh produce sector needs institutional capital, says CFO

SE Fruits and Vegetables, a Punjab-based exporter of mangoes, citrus and potatoes, is preparing to become the first fresh fruit and vegetable company to list on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), a milestone its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) says could open the door to institutional capital for a sector that has long relied on informal financing.

“This is a landmark because this sector has been undercapitalised, underserved by banking…  So now with our entry, the sector will get the recognition globally as well as locally,” Rai Omar, the CFO, said while talking exclusively to Business Recorder.

The Sargodha-based company is seeking to raise roughly Rs1.9 billion through the Initial Public Offering (IPO) next month.

Omar said the listing was not aimed at repaying debt but to fund working capital.

“Our experience over the years has shown that demand from our international customers has consistently exceeded our working capital capacity. Therefore, the limiting factor has not been the customer demand, but the amount of capital available to procure, process, and ship larger volumes during peak periods,” he said.

The bulk of IPO proceeds, roughly 78%, will go toward advance payments to farmers and fund its credit sales. A smaller portion, i.e. 3-4%, will be used to establish a subsidiary in the UAE and a liaison office in Uzbekistan, shared the CFO.

The PSX has experienced a strong revival in its IPO market in the ongoing year 2026, demonstrating significant momentum and robust post-listing performance.

Analysts say the momentum is driven by improved macroeconomic stability under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, positive market sentiment, high liquidity, falling interest rates, and political stability.

A small fish in the sea

SE Fruits shared that it generated topline of about $7.6 million in FY26 against national fruit and vegetable exports of $470 million. “So, you can imagine, we are a very small player, with not more than 2% market share,” says Omar.

The CFO said the company had identified 23 target export markets, mostly concentrated in the Gulf, Iraq, Central Asia, parts of the Far East and Europe. “Pakistan is only serving 13% of that share from these countries. They want to import a larger amount of fresh foods and vegetables,” said Omar.

He shared that Pakistan exports only 5-15% of the produce, whereas “30-40% is getting wasted” due to poor post-harvest handling and inadequate cold storage.

“Around $2.7-3 billion worth of agricultural produce is wasted,” said Omar.

Growth targeted at 7 to 10 times

Over five years, Omar said, the company aims to scale revenue seven to ten times, to between Rs15bn and Rs20bn, from the current Rs2 billion in sales.

Omar shared that Pakistan’s fruit and vegetable exports fell from $700 million to $470 million last year, owing to the conflict in the Middle East and the closure of the Afghan border, which disrupted shipping and overland trade routes.

“Amid the ongoing conflict, what we have seen is that we are getting more enquiries and demand from our Middle Eastern clients, which clearly shows that proximity is helping our case. They want to diversify their source,” he said.

Omar expects the horticulture sector to recover to $700 million and then grow a further 30% within two years.

“In the next two years, there’s no doubt that we can achieve $1 billion in exports of fruits and vegetables.”