Equipment Finance Confidence Declines, Again

Equipment Leasing & Financing Foundation releases report on business conditions and expectations within the equipment finance industry.

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Reports issued by the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation are showing a declining trend in equipment financing confidence. Its index, known as the Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry (MCI-EFI), was 63.9 in January, 61.8 in February, 58.2 in March and 56.1 in April. That’s a 12.2% decrease for the year. The May index report is due out within the next two weeks. 

The index aims to assess business conditions and expectations for the future, based on feedback from equipment finance executives. One such response came from Jim DeFrank, EVP and chief operating officer at Isuzu Finance of America, who said, “there is huge pent-up demand for all kinds of products. In the transportation space, the final-mile vehicles are in great demand, and we see this continuing for at least 12 to 18 months. Once the supply chain catches up, we will see some kind of normalcy return to the equipment finance industry.”

When asked to assess their business conditions over the next few months, 14.8% of executives responding said they believe business conditions will improve over the next four months, a decrease from 21.4% in March. 63% believe business conditions will remain the same over the next four months, up from 50% the previous month. 22.2% believe business conditions will worsen, a decrease…