Finance & Leasing Association11 April 2013
New figures released today by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that 28.7% of UK fixed capital investment1 was financed by FLA members in 2012, the highest level recorded since 2008. The latest figures for February 2013 show that new business provided through leasing and hire purchase contracts fell by 2% compared with the same month in 2012, but new business in 2013 overall is expected to grow by up to 10%2.
Commenting on the figures, Julian Rose, Head of Asset Finance at the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA), said: “We welcome the Government’s announcement yesterday of an Investment Programme to support SMEs, including through asset finance. Today’s figures show an increasing appetite on the part of businesses to fund growth through leasing.
“However, the Business Bank’s new programme must be properly coordinated with the Bank of England’s Funding for Lending Scheme to ensure that Government interventions work through all parts of the finance markets.”
| Table 1 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 |
| Percentage of fixed capital investment1 financed by FLA members | 28.7 | 27.8 | 24.8 | 28.6 | 34.8 |
| Table 2 | Feb 2013 | % change on Feb 2012 | 3 months to Feb 2013 | % change on prev. year | 12 months to Feb 2013 | % change on prev. year |
| Total FLA asset finance (£m) | 1,405 | -14 | 4,565 | -13 | 21,222 | 0 |
| Total leasing and hire purchase excluding high value (£m) | 1,244 | -2 | 3,994 | -4 | 18,151 | +4 |
| Data Extracts: | ||||||
| Plant and machinery finance (£m) | 304 | -9 | 909 | -9 | 4,234 | +6 |
| Commercial vehicle finance (£m) | 296 | -29 | 957 | -20 | 4,496 | -2 |
| IT equipment finance (£m) | 100 | +21 | 369 | -4 | 1,371 | +17 |
| Business equipment finance (£m) | 123 | -39 | 410 | -29 | 1,791 | -10 |
| Car finance (£m) | 419 | +18 | 1,422 | +8 | 6,756 | +6 |
| Aircraft, ships and rolling stock finance (£m) | 40 | -40 | 66 | -45 | 468 | -16 |
Note to editors:
- Excludes property and own-account software.
- Results from the FLA’s Asset Finance Confidence Survey, Q1 2013.
- In 2012 FLA members provided £76.3 billion of new finance to UK businesses and households. £21.4 billion of finance was provided to businesses and the public sector, representing 28.7% of all fixed capital investment (excluding real property and own-account software) in the UK last year.
