GROWTH SURGE IN ASSET FINANCE
New figures released today by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show a 15%2 surge in asset finance growth across key business investment categories of plant and machinery, commercial vehicles, IT and other business equipment during the second quarter of 2013, shrugging off the 10% contraction in the first quarter.
IT and business equipment reported notable growth rates, with new business up by 32% and 26% respectively during the second quarter. June was a good month for the commercial vehicle and plant and machinery finance sectors, which reported growth of 13% and 21%.
Commenting, Julian Rose, Head of Asset Finance at the FLA said:
“New investment in business equipment is a good indicator of future business growth, so these figures augur well for SME sales growth and employment trends over the rest of 2013.”
| June 2013 | % change on June 2012 | 3 months to June 2013 | % change on prev. year | 12 months to June 2013 | % change on prev. year | |
| Total FLA asset finance (£m) | 2,027 | +3 | 5,752 | +6 | 21,428 | -1 |
| Total leasing and hire purchase excluding high value (£m) | 1,874 | +2 | 5,567 | +6 | 20,771 | +1 |
| Data Extracts: | ||||||
| Plant and machinery finance (£m) | 428 | +21 | 1,164 | +9 | 4,292 | +3 |
| Commercial vehicle finance (£m) | 463 | +13 | 1,231 | +10 | 4,627 | -1 |
| IT equipment finance (£m) | 193 | +8 | 481 | +32 | 1,469 | +12 |
| Business equipment finance (£m) | 222 | +20 | 566 | +26 | 1,864 | -5 |
| Car finance (£m) | 571 | 0 | 1,832 | -2 | 6,687 | +3 |
| Aircraft, ships and rolling stock finance (£m) | 22 | -23 | 67 | +1 | 471 | +40 |
Notes:
- In 2012 FLA members provided £76.6 billion of new finance to UK businesses and households. £21.5 billion of finance was provided to businesses and the public sector, representing around 28% of all fixed capital investment (excluding real property and own-account software) in the UK last year.
- Aggregate figure for plant and machinery, commercial vehicles, IT and other business equipment, £3,442m, is 15% up on the comparable figure for Q2 2012
DEMAND FOR MOTOR FINANCE REMAINS STRONG
New figures released today by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show a good performance from the motor market in the first 6 months of the year, with consumer new car finance growing 31% by value. FLA members’ penetration of the private new car registrations market increased to 73.6%. Year to date growth of 3% in business new car finance is encouraging after a flat year.
Commenting, Paul Harrison, Head of Motor Finance at the FLA, said:
“These continuing healthy figures support a general picture of improving consumer confidence. With interest rates set to remain low, there appears to be a positive outlook for consumer demand.”
| Table 1: Cars bought on finance by consumers through dealerships | ||||||
| Jun-13 | % change on prev. year | 3 months to Jun 2013 | % change on prev. year | 12 months to Jun 2013 | % change on prev. year | |
| New cars | ||||||
| Value of advances (£m) | 1,009 | +32 | 2,938 | +34 | 10,826 | +34 |
| Number of cars | 66,587 | +26 | 196,936 | +30 | 744,175 | +28 |
| Used cars | ||||||
| Value of advances (£m) | 704 | +25 | 2,216 | +23 | 7,825 | +13 |
| Number of cars | 73,671 | +18 | 235,066 | +19 | 833,084 | +9 |
| Table 2: Cars bought on finance by businesses | ||||||
| Jun-13 | % change on prev. year | 3 months to Jun 2013 | % change on prev. year | 12 months to Jun 2013 | % change on prev. year | |
| New cars | ||||||
| Number of cars | 35,844 | +19 | 113,715 | +1 | 396,405 | -1 |
| Used cars | ||||||
| Number of cars | 4,838 | -60 | 13,170 | -39 | 63,036 | +13 |
Notes:
- In 2012 FLA members provided £76.6 billion of new finance to UK businesses and households. £55.1 billion of this was in the form of consumer credit, 30% of all unsecured lending in the UK. And £23.3 billion of it supported the purchase of new and used cars, including more than 70% of private new car registrations.