Equipment leasing business volume continues steady growth, association says

Yesterday, the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) released its Monthly Leasing and Finance Index for July, which showed new business growth for the month and year to date.

The index reflects volume of commercial equipment financed in the United States, reporting economic activity from 25 companies that represent a cross-section of the $827 billion equipment finance sector.

Overall new business for the month of July totaled $7.8 billion, up 8 percent compared with July 2013. New business volume was down 13 percent compared with June, but increased 4 percent year to date, compared with 2013's first seven months.

Receivables over a 30-day period increased 2.7 percent compared with June, and were up 1.5 percent compared with the same 2013 period. Charge-offs remained flat for the fourth-consecutive month at an all-time low of 0.2 percent, according to the index. Credit approvals totaled 79.7 percent in July, a slight decrease from June's 80.1 percent. Total headcount for equipment finance companies was up 0.4 percent year over year.

"After a solid second quarter that saw an overall increase in U.S. GDP and strong business investment, new business volume in the equipment finance sector continued to hold steady in July," said ELFA President and Chief Executive Officer William Sutton in a prepared statement. "For now, most ELFA member companies report good, if not spectacular, growth, and conditions appear favorable for this to continue into the late summer and early fall."

Meanwhile, the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation's Monthly Confidence Index for August is 58.9 percent, down slightly from the previous two months' indexes of 61.4.