Company registration goes up by 15 per cent during 2011

Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) registered a total of 3,596 companies during the last year 2011, showing an increase of 15 per cent as compared to 3,137 companies registered during 2010. A statement of SECP said out of the registered companies 3,239 were private companies, 28 public unlisted companies, 255 single member companies, 51 not-for-profit association, 15 foreign companies, five trade organisations and three companies limited by guarantee. In December 271 companies were registered in which private companies have the highest share in new incorporation totaling 239 followed by 20 single member companies, five public unlisted companies, three not-for-profit associations and foreign companies, each, and a trade organisation.
Of the three foreign companies, two are from Turkey and the USA and have been registered in Islamabad; while a foreign company from Netherlands is registered in Karachi. Foreign investment by nationals from China is witnessed in three new local companies in the auto and allied, mineral, and services sectors and by nationals from Singapore and Afghanistan in two new local companies in tourism and communications sectors. The sector-wise position shows that the trading sector has highest new incorporations with 39 companies, followed by services with 35, hajj and umrah services with 20, education with 14, construction and information technology with 13 each, communications with 12, tourism with 11, and food and beverages with 10.
Company Registration Office (CRO), Lahore registered the highest number of companies, i.e., 88 followed by CROs Islamabad and Karachi registering 78 and 67 companies, respectively. Remaining CROs at Peshawar, Quetta, Multan and Faisalabad registered 17, 10, seven and four companies respectively. The authorised capital and paid up capital of 271 companies, is Rs4.53 billion and Rs475.06 million, respectively. During the month, 19 companies increased their authorised capital with the aggregate authorised capital increment of Rs1.57 billion and 42 companies raised their paid up capital with the total paid up capital increment amounting to Rs3.15 billion.