The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) registered 319 companies during September 2005 as compared to 236 companies registered during the corresponding month of the previous year, reflecting an increase of 35 percent.
Of the registered entities, 309 were limited by shares companies, comprising six public unlisted companies, 287 private companies and sixteen single member companies. Besides, six non-profit associations, one foreign company, one company limited by guarantee, one trade organisation and one private unlimited company were also registered.
The Company Registration Office (CRO) in Lahore registered the highest number of 117 companies followed by CROS in Karachi, Islamabad, and Peshawar that registered 106, seventy and sixteen companies, respectively.
CROs in Faisalabad and Multan registered four companies each while in Quetta and Sukkur one company each was registered.
The highest number of sixty-eight companies was registered in the services sector, followed by thirty in communications, twenty-eight in trading, nineteen in information technology and seventeen in real estate development sectors.
Total authorised capital and paid-up capital of the 309 limited by shares companies registered during September 2005 amounted to Rs 4,386.25 million and Rs 426.64 million, respectively.
In addition, twenty-eight companies raised their authorised capital during the month by Rs 9111.1 million.
There has been a growing trend in the registration of companies. This is in large part owing to the efforts of the SEC to facilitate promoters and create a conducive environment for corporatisation.