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IT Equipment Drives Asset Finance Growth
The total value of the asset finance market hit £5.2m in the second quarter of 2012, according to the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA).
The FLA said that these figures excluded high value deals of £20m or more, while its figures also showed that the leasing and hire purchase of business equipment market rose 9% in the period.
Growth was driven by IT equipment finance, up 48% in the period, while finance for plant and machinery increased 13%.
Car and commercial vehicle finance increased 12% and 13% respectively in the second quarter of the year.
Julian Rose, head of asset finance at the FLA, said that awareness of the asset finance industry among small and medium-sized businesses was growing.
“The government has rightly included asset finance in its programme of measures to ease the flow of credit to small businesses. Expanding those measures – for example the new Funding for Lending Scheme – to include a wider range of asset finance companies would help even more businesses to invest.”
While growth was slower than the 13% seen in the first quarter of the year, the trade body for the asset finance industry suggested that this was a reflection of the 0.7% contraction in GDP in the period.
The figures also showed that agreements made through commercial finance brokers and equipment suppliers were on the up, with both channels recording a 14% increase in the quarter.
