Equipment leasing and finance industry confidence eases in August

The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation has released the August 2018 "Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry," based on a survey of key executives from the $1 trillion equipment finance sector. Overall, confidence in the equipment finance market eased again in August to 60.7, down from the July index of 62.8.

When asked about the outlook for the future, survey respondent Paul Menzel, CLFP, president/CEO of Financial Pacific Leasing Inc., an Umpqua Bank Company, said, “Uncertainty is the theme in the economy for the balance of 2018. Between the administration's trade strategy, the mid-term elections, and the president's political challenges, decision makers are taking a wait-and-see approach to business investment.”

When asked to assess their business conditions over the next four months, 13.3 percent of executives responding said they believe business conditions will improve over the next four months, a decrease from 19.4 percent in July. Eighty percent of respondents believe business conditions will remain the same over the next four months, an increase from 77.4 percent the previous month. Nearly 7 percent believe business conditions will worsen, an increase from 3.2 percent who believed so the previous month.

More than 16 percent of survey respondents believe demand for leases and loans to fund capital expenditures (capex) will increase over the next four months, a decrease from 19.4 percent in July. Just over 83.3 percent believe demand will “remain the same” during the same four-month period, an increase from 77.4 percent the previous month. None believe demand will decline, down from 3.2 percent who believed so in July.

Nearly 17 percent of the respondents expect more access to capital to fund equipment acquisitions over the next four months, up slightly from 16.1 percent in July. Just over 83 percent of executives indicate they expect the “same” access to capital to fund business, a slight decrease from 83.9 percent last month. None expect “less” access to capital, unchanged from last month.

Forty percent of the leadership evaluate the current U.S. economy as “excellent,” down from 41.9 percent last month. Sixty percent of the leadership evaluate the current U.S. economy as “fair,” up from 58.1 percent in July. None evaluate it as “poor,” unchanged from last month.

Just more than 13 percent of the survey respondents believe that U.S. economic conditions will get “better” over the next six months, a slight increase from 12.9 percent in July. About 73 percent of survey respondents indicate they believe the U.S. economy will “stay the same” over the next six months, a decrease from 77.4 percent the previous month. Just more than 13.3 percent believe economic conditions in the U.S. will worsen over the next six months, an increase from 9.7 percent in July.

In August, 33.3 percent of respondents indicate they believe their company will increase spending on business development activities during the next six months, a decrease from 45.2 percent in July. Almost 67 percent believe there will be “no change” in business development spending, an increase from 54.8 percent the previous month. None believe there will be a decrease in spending, unchanged from last month.