ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) registered 350 new companies in October. Compared with corresponding month last year, a 7% growth has been witnessed.
Around 89% companies registered as private limited companies, while around 7% companies registered as single member companies. Two percent of the companies have been registered as non-profit associations and one percent each as public limited and foreign companies.
The trading sector took the lead in new registrations with the incorporation of 48 companies, followed by services with 39, information and technology with 38, tourism with 32, construction with 31, communications with 13, education with 12 and fuel and energy with 11 companies.
Foreign investment has been witnessed in 20 new companies. These companies have foreign investors from Afghanistan, Belgium, China, Germany, Japan, Lebanon, Norway, Panama, Turkey, the UK and the US. These companies are from power generation, mining and quarrying, trading, construction, communications, education, information technology, services, and textile sectors.
During the month, the highest number of companies, i.e.122, was registered at the Company Registration Office (CRO), Lahore, followed by 99 and 93 companies registered at CROs in Islamabad and Karachi respectively. The CROs in Peshawar, Multan and Faisalabad registered 13, 10 and 9 companies respectively, while the CROs in Quetta and Sukkur registered 2 companies each.
In the month of October, returns for an increase in the authorized capital of 43 companies were accepted, with the total authorized capital enhancement of Rs19.36 billion. In addition, 59 companies filed returns for increase in the paid-up capital with the total enhancement amounting to Rs3.8 billion.
