Asset finance new business remains steady

New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that asset finance new business (primarily leasing and hire purchase) in November was £2.5 billion, a similar level to the same month in 2016.

The commercial vehicle finance and IT equipment finance sectors reported new business up in November by 5% and 1% respectively, compared with the same month in 2016, while new finance for plant and machinery fell by 3% over the same period.

Commenting on the figures, Geraldine Kilkelly, Head of Research and Chief Economist at the FLA, said “The asset finance market reported a broadly stable picture across the main asset sectors in November, and remains on course to report a record level of annual new business in 2017 of around £32 billion. This would represent new business growth of 6% compared with 2016, in line with expectations.”

	Nov 2017	% change on prev. year	3 months to Nov 2017	% change on prev. year	12 months to Nov 2017	% change on prev. year
Total FLA asset finance (£m)	2,541	0	7,962	0	31,804	+4
Total excluding high value (£m)	2,531	+4	7,936	+3	30,919	+6
Data Extracts:   By asset:
Plant and machinery finance (£m)	481	-3	1,464	-2	6,506	+10
Commercial vehicle finance (£m)	691	+5	2,061	+4	7,574	+2
IT equipment finance (£m)	235	+1	642	+5	2,246	-4
Business equipment finance (£m)	209	-4	624	+4	2,566	+9
Car finance (£m)	738	-2	2,538	-1	9,854	+5
Aircraft, ships and rolling stock finance (£m)	8	-60	45	-45	574	+18
By channel:
Direct finance (£m)	1,186	-2	3,864	0	15,595	+3
Broker-introduced finance (£m)	526	+14	1,551	+7	5,868	+13
Sales finance (£m)	818	+9	2,521	+7	9,456	+7
By product:
Finance leasing (£m)	286	-9	959	-2	3,948	-4
Operating leasing (£m)	607	+3	1,816	-2	7,143	+6
Lease/Hire purchase (£m)	1,371	-2	4,325	+3	16,745	+7
Other finance (£m)	276	+11	862	-9	3,968	-4