ISLAMABAD, Dec 24: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) registered 268 companies during November 2005 as compared to 194 companies registered during the corresponding month of the previous year, showing an increase of 38 per cent.

According to the commission, of the total companies 262 were limited by shares comprising 10 public companies, 239 private companies and 13 single member companies.

Apart from these, four foreign companies and two companies limited by guarantee were also registered.

The Company Registration Office (CRO) Lahore registered 101 companies while Karachi and Islamabad CROs registered 95 and 46 companies, respectively. CROs of Multan, Faisalabad and Peshawar, registered 11, 10 and five companies.

A total of 44 companies were registered in the services sector, 37 in trading, 26 in communications, 21 in textile, 15 in information technology, 13 in food and beverages, 11 in chemi-cal and pharmaceutical and 10 in real estate development sector.

Total authorized capital and paid-up capital of the 258 limited by shares companies registered during November 2005 amounted to Rs2,351.8 million and Rs261.58 million.

A total of 16 companies have also raised their authorized capital during the month with an increment of Rs7,639 million.—APP