Equipment finance confidence high

Confidence in the equipment finance market continues to remain at a high level according to the latest data from the Equipment Leasing and Finance Foundation, with its monthly confidence index for the equipment finance industry (MCI-EFI) standing at 72.2, leveling off after January’s all-time high index of 73.4.

When asked about the outlook for the future, MCI-EFI survey respondent Thomas Partridge, president, Fifth Third Equipment Finance, said: “With the commitment of the Trump Administration to reduce regulation we expect more companies to start thinking more about expansion and the growth of their business versus a focus on regulatory compliance. Longer term concerns are over the direction of tax policies and their impact on the equipment finance industry. Any movement toward expensing capital expenditures could impact our industry. We think this is more of a 2018 issue than a 2017 issue.”

When asked to assess their business conditions over the next four months, 69.2% of executives responding said they believe business conditions will improve over the next four months, a decrease from 74.2% in January, while 26.9% expect them to remain the same, an increase from 22.6% in January.

There has been sharp decrease in the number of respondents who believe demand for leases and loans to fund capital expenditures will increase over the next four months, which is now 53.8% a decrease from 71% in January. More (42.3%) believe demand will “remain the same” during the same four-month time period, up from 25.8% the previous month.

Most (73.1%) of the survey respondents believe that US economic conditions will get “better” over the next six months, an increase from 61.3% in January. None believe economic conditions in the US will worsen over the next six months, unchanged from last month.