The plant and machinery finance and business equipment finance sectors reported new business up in February by 11% and 24% respectively, while new finance for commercial vehicles was up 2% over the same period.
Commenting on the figures, Geraldine Kilkelly, Head of Research and Chief Economist at the FLA, said “The asset finance market has made a strong start to 2017, with new business up by 12% in the first two months of the year. It was another good month for the agricultural and construction equipment finance sectors, as new business increased by 36% and 16% respectively compared with February 2016.
“The industry’s overall performance reflects the improvement reported in recent surveys of investment intentions, which have strengthened as businesses have become more confident about demand in the short term at least.”
| Feb
2017 |
% change on prev. year | 3 months to Feb
2017 |
% change on prev. year | 12 months to Feb
2017 |
% change on prev. year | |
| Total FLA asset finance (£m) | 2,147 | +8 | 7,008 | +1 | 30,665 | +6 |
| Total excluding high value (£m) | 2,071 | +6 | 6,732 | +2 | 29,277 | +5 |
| Data Extracts:
By asset: |
||||||
| Plant and machinery finance (£m) | 509 | +11 | 1,496 | +3 | 6,015 | +3 |
| Commercial vehicle finance (£m) | 520 | +2 | 1,688 | -3 | 7,381 | +6 |
| IT equipment finance (£m) | 105 | -15 | 461 | -19 | 2,246 | +1 |
| Business equipment finance (£m) | 213 | +24 | 612 | +17 | 2,491 | +20 |
| Car finance (£m) | 556 | -2 | 1,873 | 0 | 9,304 | +3 |
| Aircraft, ships and rolling stock finance (£m) | 82 | +818 | 174 | +21 | 516 | -3 |
|
By channel: |
||||||
| Direct finance (£m) | 1,057 | +6 | 3,395 | -3 | 14,954 | +4 |
| Broker-introduced finance (£m) | 427 | +19 | 1,330 | +20 | 5,301 | +14 |
| Sales finance (£m) | 587 | -2 | 2,007 | +1 | 9,022 | +2 |
|
By product: |
||||||
| Finance leasing (£m) | 232 | -13 | 970 | -17 | 3,990 | +1 |
| Operating leasing (£m) | 470 | +16 | 1,486 | +3 | 6,697 | +4 |
| Lease/Hire purchase (£m) | 1,166 | +7 | 3,525 | +6 | 15,811 | +5 |
| Other finance (£m) | 280 | +19 | 1,027 | +5 | 4,167 | +22 |
