Depicting a positive outlook for U.S. businesses as they continue to invest in capital equipment, new business volume increased 12% in 2006 to over $125 billion, according to the 2007 Annual Equipment Finance Report and Survey of Industry Activity report. The report produced by the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) revealed that more than 78% of respondents experienced positive growth in new business volume for 2006. The volume of non-lease products was over 50% again in 2006.
From the equipment perspective, the top volume categories include:
- Trucks and Trailers which rose in 2006 to 11.3% from 10.1% in 2005, and represent the largest volume total reported by SIA respondents.
- PCs and workstations had the second largest total volume (10.6%) in 2006 though the volume was down from 14% in 2005.
- Corporate aircraft was up 8.2%.
By end-user industry, the top performance categories include:
- Industrial/Manufacturing -- 12.7%, up from 12.5% in 2005
- Services (data processing, admin support, repair) -- 11.8%, compared to 13.1% in 2005
- Construction -- 11.6% up from 10.9% in 2005
- Healthcare -- 9.4%, up from 9% in 2005
- Wholesale/retail -- 9.1%, compared to 10.3% in 2005
"While there's clear evidence of tightening in the credit market overall, the equipment finance sector has seen strong credit quality and management," said Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr., ELFA president. "In addition, credit standards in the equipment finance sector have not seen the deterioration other sectors have."
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