The Finance and Leasing Association (FLA) have released figures this month showing that new asset finance business for FLA members is on the rise in January 2014. The figures show that the increase is 9% to almost £1.7 billion, versus January 2013.
A lot of the important sectors to asset finance showed excellent double-digit increases (Jan 14 vs. Jan 13), such as:
- Commercial vehicle finance – 25%
- Business equipment finance – 21%
- Plant and Machiner finance – 13%
- IT equipment finance – 3%
The Head of Research and Chief Economics of the FLA said:
The positive start to 2014 follows exceptionally strong growth of more than a third in December 2013 and reflects growing confidence in the sector.
The FLA’s Asset Finance Confidence Survey for Q1 2014 showed respondents expect asset finance new business to grow by up to 10% over the next twelve months.
Strong car financing
The FLA also released some figures in February showing that 74.2% of new private car sales in the UK in 2013 had been financed by FLA members. That percentage has risen by 3% from 2012 figures. The data highlights that the number of used cars purchased using dealer-based finance had grown to 915,000, which is the highest number since 1999.
The Head of Motor Finance at the FLA, Paul Harrison, said:
Our latest figures show just how important consumer credit is to the wider economy, with strong growth in demand for point-of-sale car finance in 2013. Customers are continuing to take advantage of competitively-priced, responsibly-provided credit which is secured against the car.
