ELFA Reports Trends in Monthly Equipment Leasing Activity

WASHINGTON (October 23, 2013) — The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association’s (ELFA) Monthly Leasing and Finance Index (MLFI-25), which reports economic activity from 25 companies representing a cross section of the $725 billion equipment finance sector, showed their overall new business volume for September was $7.7 billion, down 6 percent compared to volume in September 2012.

Month-over-month, new business volume was up 20 percent from August. Year to date, cumulative new business volume increased 6 percent compared to 2012. Receivables over 30 days were at 1.5 percent in September, down slightly from 1.6 percent in August. Delinquencies declined from 1.8 percent in the same period in 2012. Charge-offs were unchanged from August at 0.4 percent, and only slightly higher than the previous five months’ all-time low of 0.3 percent.

Credit approvals totaled 77.3 percent in September, down from 79.1 percent the previous month. Fifty-six percent of participating organizations reported submitting more transactions for approval during September, unchanged from the previous month.

Finally, total headcount for equipment finance companies was up 1.2 percent year over year.

Separately, the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation’s Monthly Confidence Index (MCI-EFI) for October is 54.0, a decline from the September index of 61.3, demonstrating the negative impact of the federal government’s budget response on an otherwise steady industry outlook.

For more information, click here.