Equipment Lease Finance Industry's Monthly Index

The equipment finance sector’s overall new business volume for November is up 3% compared to the same period in 2011, according to the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association’s latest Monthly Leasing and Finance Index.

The index also shows that new business volume is down 16% from last month; however, the year-to-date cumulative new business volume increased 15%.

Receivables over 30 days increased for the first time in six months to 2%, up from 1.7% in October, and they were unchanged when compared to the same period in 2011. Charge-offs were up from the previous month at 0.5%, and down by 28.6% compared to the same period last year.

Credit approvals totaled 77% in November, down from 79.5% in October. Forty-six percent of participating organizations reported submitting more transactions for approval during November, down from 66% the previous month.

Finally, total headcount for equipment finance companies was down 1% from the previous month, and declined 2% year over year.

Separately, the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation's Monthly Confidence Index (MCI-EFI) for December is 48.5, a decrease from the November index of 49.9, reflecting industry participants’ concerns regarding the impact of fiscal issues on capital expenditures, despite an overall sense of optimism in the equipment finance industry.