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Figures by Companies Registry show mixed results
Figures released by the acting Registrar of Companies, Mr A H Patel, today (Monday) indicated mixed results for the first six months of the calendar year 1995 compared with the same period of 1994.
The Companies Registry figures showed that although the total number of companies registered under the Companies Ordinance at the end of last month was 463,890, an increase of 2.5 per cent over the position at December 31, 1994, the number of new companies registered during the first six months of 1995 was 17,315, 7,732 less than the corresponding period of 1994.
The total number of overseas companies which had established a place of business in Hong Kong under Part XI of the Companies Ordinance at the end of June 1995 was 4,144, an increase of 4.8 per cent over the total number at the end of December 1994.
The number of new overseas companies registered during the first six months of 1995 was 289, an increase of 5.1 per cent compared with the first six months of 1994.
The number of charges on the assets of companies registered in the first six months of 1995 decreased by 16 per cent from 17,598 to 14,838 compared with the first six months of 1994, but the amount secured by those charges increased by 64 per cent from $21,771 million to $35,629 million.
The number of Certificates of Satisfaction, issued when charges are repaid, amounted to 8,805 in the first half year of 1995, a reduction of 11 per cent from the same period last year, while the amount of indebtedness released, showed a drop of 52 per cent to $5,511 million.
During the period a total of 79 prospectuses of public companies, including 44 in respect of mutual funds, were registered compared with 103 prospectuses, including 24 in respect of mutual funds, during the corresponding period in 1994.
The number of documents received for filing during the first six months of 1995 compared with that for the same period in 1994 increased by 8 per cent from 602,184 to 651,313 and the number of searches made by the public during the first six months of 1995 compared with that for the same period in 1994 decreased by 3.4 per cent from 975,615 to 942,016.