Confidence in the equipment finance market increased to 50.4 in August, according to Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry (MCI-EFI) published by the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation. The July index was 46.4.
“In spite of significant turmoil in the U.S. banking sector, including multiple downgrades and warnings from the rating agencies, as well as unprecedented interest rate increases over the past year, the equipment leasing and finance industry continues to persevere,” Dave Fate, CEO of Stonebriar Commercial Finance, said in a statement. “Secured equipment loans and leases continue to outperform every other asset class.”
When asked to assess their business conditions over the next four months, 3.6% of respondents said that they believe business conditions will improve, a decrease from 7.7% in July. About twice that, 7.1%, expect business conditions to worsen, a decrease from 26.9% in July.
One in 10 (10.7%) expect demand for leases and loans to fund capital expenditures to increase over the next four months, up from 7.7% in July. The same percentage, 10.7%, expect demand to decline, down from 26.7% in July.
A small portion, 3.6%, evaluate the current U.S. economy as “excellent,” relatively unchanged from 3.9% the previous month. One in 10 (10.7%) evaluate it as “poor,” a decrease from 15.4% last month. The percentage of respondents expecting economic conditions to get “better” over the next six months was 10.7%, down from 11.5% in July. About three in 10 (28.6%) expect conditions to will worsen, a decrease from 34.6% the previous month.
Source: Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation
