December 18, 2003	Thursday	Shawwal 23, 1424

KARACHI, Dec 17: Consumer goods giant Unilever said on Wednesday it planned to sell its edible oil business in Pakistan as part of its global strategy to focus on core brands.

The Anglo-Dutch foods to detergents group said it remained committed to investing in Pakistan, despite the planned sale.

The edible oil business, which trades under the “Dalda” brand, has Rs767 million of assets, industry analysts said.

“Edible oil was a very volatile business for them so it was not making much profit,” said Asif Qureshi, head of sales at Global Securities in Pakistan.

Pakistan imports 1.3 million tons of vegetable oil products annually, mostly from Malaysia, to help meet its domestic needs of 1.9 million tons.

Among branded edible oil makers, Unilever and Habib Oils dominate the industry. Unbranded sale of edible oil products has cut into the profits of the industry.—Dow Jones Newswires