US equipment finance market falters

Confidence in the US equipment finance market has taken a dip in September, according to research by the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation.

It says concerns about trade wars and ongoing tariff negotiations are rising.

The Foundation’s monthly confidence index for the equipment finance industry (MCI-EFI), which reports a qualitative assessment of both the prevailing business conditions and expectations for the future, currently stands at 54.7, a decrease from the August index of 58.9.

When asked about the outlook for the future, MCI-EFI survey respondent Quentin Cote, president, Mintaka Financial (pictured above), said: “I’m optimistic about the health of the consumer confidence and unemployment rates. I’m very concerned about the impacts of the trade wars on the economy and the size of the deficit limiting the government’s tools to keep the economy balanced.”

The survey found 10% of executives believe business conditions will improve over the next four months, down from 17% in August, while 76% of respondents believe business conditions will remain the same over the next four months, similar to the previous month. However, 14% now believe business conditions will worsen, double the 7% who thought so in August.

There has a been a fall in the number of the survey respondents who believe demand for leases and loans to fund capital expenditures will increase over the next four months. This now totals 13%, a decrease from 17% who believed so in August, although three-quarters of those surveyed say demand will not change.

Respondents reported no change in the availability of capital to fund equipment acquisitions over the next four months, but there are growing concerns over the state of the economy.

For September, 20% of the leadership evaluate the current US economy as “excellent,” down from 37% in August. Most (80%) of respondents evaluate the economy as “fair,” an increase from 60% the previous month.

The proportion who think US economic conditions will get “better” over the next six months has halved from 7% in August to 3% this month. There has been a rise in those who believe economic conditions will worsen over the next six months (27%), an increase from 20% in August.

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Michael Romanowski, president, Farm Credit Leasing, said: “Tariffs continue to be the discussion with our customers. Belt tightening will continue until there is a light at the end of the tunnel. We expect investment in expansion to be muted until trade issues are resolved.”