OUR STAFF REPORTER ISLAMABAD - The SECP has registered 344 companies during May, whereas 338 companies were incorporated in last month and 285 in corresponding month of last year. A growing trend in incorporation of new companies has been witnessed continually since November. Of the 344 companies, private companies had the major share totalling to 305 companies. Other companies include 25 single-member companies, 5 public unlisted companies, 7 non-profit associations, 1 company limited by guarantee and 1 foreign company. The CRO in Lahore registered 106 companies followed by the CROs in Islamabad and Karachi registering 97 and 86 companies respectively. The CROs in Multan, Peshawar, Faisalabad, Quetta and Sukkur registered 19, 16, 11, 8 and 1 companies respectively. The sector-wise breakdown of the 344 companies shows that 60 companies were registered in trading, followed by 38 in services, 25 IT, 21 in construction, 19 in communications, 17 each in Haj and Umrah services, and corporate agricultural farming, 13 in transport, 12 in tourism, 11 in education, 10 in textile, 8 each in power generation and broadcasting and telecasting. The authorised capital and paid-up capital of the companies is Rs 2543.2m and Rs729.61m respectively. During the month, 65 companies increased their authorized capital with the aggregate authorized capital increment of Rs10.34b. and 107 companies raised their paid-up capital with the total paid-up capital increment amounting to Rs10.86b.