FLA PUBLISHES ANNUAL BUSINESS SURVEY

15 December 2005

FLA (Finance & Leasing Association) has published its Annual Survey of Business Finance 2005, an invaluable source of trends in the asset finance industry. For the second year running, figures from the Factors & Discounters Association (FDA) are included, covering developments in the invoice finance industry.

Against a backdrop of improved economic conditions in 2004, UK fixed capital investment (excluding real property) grew by 4.0%. FLA members funded 28.7% of such investment, a similar proportion to the previous year. Nearly half of new business underwritten went to SMEs to enable them to acquire assets to help grow their businesses.

Geraldine Kilkelly, FLA’s Head of Research, commented that “Amid an encouraging investment environment last year, demand for asset finance was robust. 2005 looks set to be another good year for the industry with new business growth in the commercial equipment sector currently running above trend.”

Key trends included:

• New business broken down by asset type and finance product (finance leasing, operating leasing, hire purchase).
• UK investment and how asset finance has performed in comparison to general investment trends.
• What’s happening in the transport equipment sector – new cars, used cars, commercial vehicles, buses and coaches, aircraft, ships and rolling stock are all included.
• What’s happening in the plant and machinery, IT equipment and other business equipment sectors.
• How much new business is going to fund assets used outside the UK.
• The market share of the top ten asset finance providers.
• Equipment leasing provided by the top five countries in Europe.
• New business in the invoice finance industry (factoring and invoice discounting markets).

To order a copy of the survey please contact the switchboard on 020 7836 6511 or email info@fla.org.uk