ISLAMABAD, Aug 8: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) registered 315 companies in July, which is an increase of almost 10 per cent compared to 288 companies registered in the corresponding period of previous year.

The new incorporations during the month include 257 private, followed by 19 single-member, 4 public unlisted companies, 5 non-profit associations and one company each as foreign company, limited by guarantee under Section 43 and trade organisation.

The services sector has the highest new incorporations: 43, followed by trading with 36, construction with 27, Hajj and Umrah services with 23, food and beverages with 16, IT with 15, education with 14, communications with 11 and tourism with 10 companies.

The highest company incorporation was witnessed at the Company Registration Office (CRO) in Lahore: 110, followed by Islamabad and Karachi CROs registering 80 and 70 companies respectively. The remaining CROs of Peshawar, Multan, Quetta and Faisalabad registered 12, 7, 6 and 3 companies respectively.

The authorised capital and paid-up capital of 315 companies is Rs3.06 billion and Rs459m respectively. During the month, 98 companies increased their authorised capital with the aggregate authorized capital increment of Rs4.70 billion and 117 companies raised their paid-up capital with the total paid-up capital increment amounting to Rs11.88 billion.