Equipment Finance News

Asset finance market reaches record level in UK during 2019

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Kilkelly geraldine 400

The UK asset finance market reached record levels last year as demand grew 6%, according to the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA).

Latest FLA figures show that total asset finance new business (primarily leasing and hire purchase) reached a record level of £35.7 billion.

In the final month of the year, business only grew by 1% compared to December 2018, but the record was secured by strong performances earlier in the year.

During December 2019, the IT equipment finance sector continued to report double-digit growth as new business increased by 10% compared with the same month in 2018.

By contrast, the commercial vehicle finance and plant and machinery finance sectors reported falls in new business of 2% and 22% respectively, over the same period, potentially reflecting uncertainty as companies waited for the results of a general election and future clarity on Brexit.

In 2019 as a whole, the commercial vehicle finance and plant and machinery finance sectors reported the strongest growth rates, with new business up by 9% and 5% respectively, compared with 2018.

Geraldine Kilkelly, head of research and chief economist at the FLA, said: “The asset finance industry reached a record level of new business in 2019, despite continued weakness in business investment. Within the overall total, more than £20 billion went to SMEs to fund investment in machinery and equipment, 4% higher than in 2018.

“Key industry sectors benefitted from using asset finance last year, with double-digit growth in new finance provided for construction and manufacturing equipment.”

UK Asset Finance Market 2019

  Dec 2019 

% change on

prev. year

3 months to

Dec 2019

% change on

prev. year

12 months to

Dec 2019

% change on

prev. year

Total FLA asset finance (£m) 2,943  8,679  35,653 
Total excluding high value (£m) 2,605  7,970  33,008 
By asset:
Plant and machinery finance (£m) 530  -22  1,677  -9  7,320 
Commercial vehicle finance (£m) 693  -2  2,186  -7  9,136 
IT equipment finance (£m) 376  10  840  25  2,830 
Business equipment finance (£m) 231  603  -9  2,465  -2 
Car finance (£m) 754  2,382  9,998 
Aircraft, ships and rolling stock finance (£m) 35  17  116  -5  566  88 
By channel:
Direct finance (£m) 1,279  -5  3,987  -1  16,680 
Broker-introduced finance (£m) 522  1,689  6,782 
Sales finance (£m) 804  2,294  9,546 
By product:
Finance leasing (£m) 339  -15  1,088  -8  4,378 
Operating leasing (£m) 640  1,815  6,984 
Lease/Hire purchase (£m) 1,458  -5  4,476  -4  19,305 
Other finance (£m) 336  35  930  44  3,587  18 

Source: FLA