ISLAMABAD, 11 JUNE (DNA) – The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) registered 426 new companies during the month of May.

Around 90 percent of companies have been registered as private limited companies.  Around 5 percent were registered as single-member companies. Five percent were registered as public unlisted, non-profit associations, trade organizations and foreign companies.

The services sector took the lead with the incorporation of 59 companies, followed by trading with 46, information technology with 44, tourism with 30, construction with 23, corporate agricultural farming with 18, food and beverages with 17, education and engineering with 16 each, power generation with 15, textile with 12, chemical, communications, paper and board with 10 each companies. Moreover, 2 foreign companies were also registered by the CRO in Islamabad.

Foreign investment has been reported in 24 new companies. These companies have foreign investors from China, Denmark, Japan, Nigeria, Norway, Palestine, Turkey, UAE, UK and the US. These companies are from power generation, services, cables and electric goods, tourism, engineering, communications, trading, information technology, paper and board, food and beverages, construction and chemical sectors.

During May, the highest numbers of companies, i.e. 155, were registered at the Company Registration Office (CRO), Lahore, followed by 109 and 85 registered at the  CROs in Islamabad and Karachi respectively. The CROs in Multan, Peshawar, Faisalabad, Quetta and Sukkur registered 30, 28, 12, 6 and 1 companies respectively.

In May, returns for an increase in the authorized capital of 288 companies were filed, with the total authorized capital increment of Rs43.7 billion. In addition, 279 companies filed returns for increase in the paid-up capital with the total increment amounting to Rs5.7 billion. DNA

—————————————————