Monthly Lease & Financing Index shows new business up 24% from 2010.
Share:
Press Release Summary:
According to ELFA's Monthly Leasing and Finance Index, which reports economic activity for equipment finance sector, overall new business volume for January was $4.2 billion, up 24% compared to same period in 2010. Receivables over 30 days increased slightly to 2.8% in January from 2.7% in December, but declined by 35% compared to same period in 2010. Charge-offs declined significantly, falling to 1.0% from 1.4% in December, and also showed improvement over same period in 2010.
Original Press Release:
Survey of Economic Activity: Monthly Leasing and Finance Index
January New Business Volume Up 24 Percent Year-over-year
Washington, DC, - The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association's (ELFA) Monthly Leasing and Finance Index (MLFI-25), which reports economic activity for the $521 billion equipment finance sector, showed overall new business volume for January was $4.2 billion, up 24 percent compared to the same period in 2010.
Credit quality is mixed. Receivables over 30 days increased slightly to 2.8 percent in January from 2.7 percent in December, but declined by 35 percent compared to the same period in 2010. Charge-offs declined significantly, falling to 1.0 percent from 1.4 percent in December, and also showed improvement over the same period in 2010.
Compared to the year-earlier period, credit standards relaxed as approvals increased to 74 percent in January. And, 56 percent of participating organizations reported submitting more transactions for approval during the month, down from two-thirds of responding organizations in December.
Finally, total headcount for equipment finance companies remained flat for the last three months, and reflected a year-over-year decrease of four percent for January. Supplemental data shows that the construction and trucking sectors once again led the underperforming sectors in January.
Separately, the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation's Monthly Confidence Index (MCI-EFI) for February is 71.6, a new high since the MCI was launched in May 2009, and an increase from the previous high of 69.7 in January. For more detailed information on the MCI-EFI visit www.LeaseFoundation.org
ELFA President and CEO William G. Sutton, CAE, said, "After a typical end-of-quarter, end-of-year spike in new business activity, the equipment finance sector seems to be resuming a steady pace of increasing volume. This trend, coupled with a strong outlook by leasing and finance executives about the future of the industry, bodes well for a continued recovery of the sector."
"At Summit Funding Group, we have seen a dramatic increase in customer interest in acquiring new assets," said Richard Ross, President, Summit Funding Group, Inc. located in Cincinnati, Ohio. "The fourth quarter of 2010 finished the year stronger than recent history. These strong results, coupled with the awarded backlog and continued interest in new financing, leads us to believe the last three quarters of the year should produce a sizable increase in lease financing for 2011."
About the ELFA's MLFI-25
The MLFI-25 is the only index that reflects capex, or the volume of commercial equipment financed in the U.S. The MLFI-25 is released globally at 9 a.m. Eastern time from Washington, D.C., each month, on the day before the U.S. Department of Commerce releases the durable goods report. The MLFI-25 is a financial indicator that complements the durable goods report and other economic indexes, including the Institute for Supply Management Index, which reports economic activity in the manufacturing sector. Together with the MLFI-25 these reports provide a complete view of the status of productive assets in the U.S. economy: equipment produced, acquired and financed.
The latest Monthly Leasing and Finance Index, including methodology and participants is available below and also at www.elfaonline.org/ind/research/MLFI/
MLFI-25 Methodology
The ELFA produces the MLFI-25 survey to help member organizations achieve competitive advantage by providing them with leading-edge research and benchmarking information to support strategic business decision making.
The MLFI-25 is a barometer of the trends in U.S. capital equipment investment. Five components are included in the survey: new business volume (originations), aging of receivables, charge-offs, credit approval ratios, (approved vs. submitted) and headcount for the equipment finance business.
The MLFI-25 measures monthly commercial equipment lease and loan activity as reported by participating ELFA member equipment finance companies representing a cross section of the equipment finance sector, including small ticket, middle-market, large ticket, bank, captive and independent leasing and finance companies. Based on hard survey data, the responses mirror the economic activity of the broader equipment finance sector and current business conditions nationally.
ELFA MLFI-25 Participants
ADP Credit Corporation
Bancorp South Equipment Finance
Bank of America
Bank of the West
BB&T
Canon Financial Services
Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation
CIT
De Lage Landen Financial Services
Dell Financial Services
EverBank Commercial Finance
Fifth Third Bank
First American Equipment Finance
GreatAmerica
Hitachi Credit America
HP Financial Services
John Deere Financial
Key Equipment Finance
M&I Equipment Finance
Marlin Leasing Corporation
Merchants Capital
National City Commercial Corp.
RBS Asset Finance
Regions Equipment Finance
Siemens Financial Services
Stearns Bank
Susquehanna Commercial Finance, Inc.
US Bancorp
Verizon Capital Corp
Volvo Financial Services
Wells Fargo Equipment Finance
About the ELFA
The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) is the trade association that represents companies in the $521 billion equipment finance sector, which includes financial services companies and manufacturers engaged in financing capital goods. ELFA members are the driving force behind the growth in the commercial equipment finance market and contribute to capital formation in the U.S. and abroad. Its over 600 members include independent and captive leasing and finance companies, banks, financial services corporations, broker/packagers and investment banks, as well as manufacturers and service providers. In 2011, ELFA is celebrating 50 years of equipping business for success. For more information, please visit www.elfaonline.org.
ELFA is the premier source for statistics and analyses concerning the equipment finance sector. Please visit www.elfaonline.org/ind/research/ for additional information.
The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation is the non-profit affiliate to the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association, providing future-focused research to the equipment finance industry. For more information please visit the website at www.leasefoundation.org
