Fresh company incorporations saw this fiscal's steepest fall in October and the registration of limited liability partnerships (LLPs) eased for the first time in five months, with experts attributing the fall to an unfavourable base and a slowdown in urban demand. Latest corporate affairs ministry data showed 12,207 new companies, including the foreign ones, were registered in October, down 21.8% from a year earlier, recording the fourth straight month of decline. LLP incorporations-which had surged consistently in each month since last fiscal, barring May, defying the high base-dipped 12.4% in October from a year before, the data showed. The number of registrations had increased 16.3% for companies and 62.7% for LLPs in 2023-24 to touch record levels, as investors had remained bullish over robust economic growth prospects and strong stock markets.