Leaseurope Index reports a rise in new leasing volumes

The Leaseurope Index Q4 2022 presents a positive outlook for the European leasing market, from the 20 European lessors surveyed, with total new leasing volumes up by 10.9% in comparison to the same quarter of the previous year. The year 2022, as a whole, experienced an increase of 3.6%, seeing over €107 billion in new business conducted.

The Leaseurope Index results for Q4 2022 track trends in key performance indicators at a European level, providing an up-to-date look at the financial health of the leasing sector in Europe.

All weighted average ratios continued to strengthen in Q4 2022 compared to the same period a year ago, except for cost/income ratio.

Aggregate pre-tax profit improved in 2022 compared to 2021, growing by 32.8%, while aggregate operating income increased by 14.8% in the last quarter of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021. While operating expenses escalated to a lower degree during this period, rising by 7.4%, the weighted average cost/income ratio deteriorated from 47.0% in Q4 2021 to 48.0% in Q4 2022.

Loan loss provisions in Q4 2022 experienced releases. As a result, the average annualised cost of risk improved from 0.31% in Q4 2021 to 0.22% in Q4 2022. Weighted average RoA and RoE in Q4 2022 performed better compared to Q4 2021, reaching 2.6% and 33.1%, respectively.

Sandro Marcucci, CFO at Alba Leasing, commented, “Despite relatively strong performance in the fourth quarter, 2022 has been a challenging year. Macroeconomic uncertainty, soaring energy prices, and supply chain issues have resulted in increased operating expenses for European leasing business. Regardless of these headwinds, European lessors managed to expand their income and portfolio. While uncertainty has somewhat decreased and inflation is moderating, they remain high, with the impact of monetary policy tightening being set to weigh on business investment. Therefore, it will be essential for European lessors to maximise our internal strengths, minimize the impact of external challenges, and continue to support European businesses, especially SMEs, during the difficult time of energy and climate crises.”

The Leaseurope Index is a unique quarterly survey of European leasing companies tracking financial KPIs in addition to volumes and portfolios. A representative sample of large pan-European leasing companies report their figures for each indicator to Leaseurope, which aggregates the results on a confidential basis. Due to the aggregate nature, no inferences can be made about any individual company’s performance based on published data. The sample represents a significant share of the total European leasing market and is broadly representative in terms of geographic and asset coverage, including general leasing companies, automotive lessors, captive equipment vendors, etc.

To download the Q4 2022 Leaseurope Index, visit https://www.leaseurope.org/data-research/leaseurope-index