November Equipment Finance Up 9% for Year, Down 24% from October

Dec. 21, 2022 - The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association’s (ELFA) Monthly Leasing and Finance Index (MLFI-25) for November showed that new business volume was $8.6 billion, up 9% year-over-year from November 2021, but down 24% from October’s $11.3 billion.

 

Year-to-date, cumulative new business volume was up 6% compared to 2021.

Receivables over 30 days were 1.7%, unchanged from October, and down from 2.2% in November 2021.

Charge-offs were 0.27%, up from 0.26% in October, and up from 0.20% in November 2021.

Credit approvals totaled 77.7%, up from 77.0% in October.

Total headcount for equipment finance companies was down 4.7% year-over-year.

Separately, the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation’s Monthly Confidence Index (MCI-EFI) in December is 45.9, up more than 2 points from 43.7 in November.

 “Moving into the final month of the year, equipment finance companies report solid performance,” said ELFA President and CEO Ralph Petta. “Rising interest rates seem to have little or no effect on origination volume in November. The economy grew in Q3 — albeit slowly — and is expected to do so again in the current quarter. Labor markets are stable, inflation woes appear to be abating, consumers are spending, and businesses continue to expand and grow: a recipe for stable growth by providers of equipment financing.”

Patrick Hoiby, president, Equify Financial, LLC, said, “New volume continues to be very strong despite continued rate hikes. Charge-offs and delinquency are remaining in check and overall credit quality is good. Employee count is hard to measure because many companies wish to expand, but are having hard times finding people.”

The MLFI-25 is the only near-real-time index that reflects capex, or the volume of commercial equipment financed in the U.S.

For more information, visit www.elfaonline.org.