IT equipment finance takes pole position in January 2015

The two fastest growing asset sectors were plant and machinery finance which grew by 12% in January to a total of £387 million compared with the same month a year earlier, and IT equipment finance which grew by a massive 49% in the same period to a total of £102 million.

Business equipment finance grew by 10% in January to reach a total of £102 million – reaching an annual total of £2.2 billion, a rise of 7% over the whole year. Car finance rose by 7% in the month to £545 million – which brought a solid 14% annual rise to £7.7 billion.

Commenting on the figures, Geraldine Kilkelly, head of research and chief economist, said: “The asset finance market has made a good start to 2015, with growth continuing across key asset sectors.  The percentage of UK investment in machinery, equipment and purchased software financed by FLA members increased from 26.2% in 2013 to 27.2% in 2014, reaching its highest level since 2011.”

The total FLA member asset finance (excluding high value) in the 12 months to January 2015 was £25.6 billion – an increase of 13% over the previous 12 months.