Industry news

European equipment leasing recovered to around 75% of pre-Covid volumes by Q4 2020

26 January / Equipment finance

A clear picture has emerged of the impact of the pandemic on leasing volumes in Europe during 2020, according to Acquis Insurance Finance.

The sharp depression in leasing volumes experienced when the coronavirus hit in March and April last year, was followed by a positive recovery period during Q3, according to its Index of performance indicators for 2020. 

However, this recovery failed to continue its strong upward trajectory during Q4 when we witnessed leasing volumes across Europe levelling off. 

This was to be expected as the optimism of a return to some form of normality during the late summer months was replaced with trepidation as European nations braced to withstand the additional pressures that winter would bring in managing the virus re-entered lockdown and imposed cross-border restrictions on non-essential travel. 

A look at year-on-year data reveals that volumes were tracking at around 25% below 2019 for the last few months of the year, according to Acquis data. 

Still, certain leasing sectors, including office and computer equipment, outperformed other areas in recovery as businesses and workforces adapted well to new working environments, Acquis said in a statement.

Hitachi Capital European Vendor Solutions approved under Dutch Covid scheme

Hitachi Capital (UK) plc’s European vendor solutions division has become one of only a small number of companies to be approved to support businesses in the Netherlands impacted by Covid-19 under a new emergency Government-backed loan scheme.

The SME credit guarantee scheme (BMKB-C) offers loans with a 75% credit guarantee from the Dutch Government to SMEs (with up to 250 full-time employees) that have been heavily impacted by the global pandemic.

Allica Bank unveils asset finance offering

Allica Bank, a UK provider of financial services for SMEs, has announced the launch of its asset finance offering. 

The lender, which gained its banking licence in September 2019, said that eligible businesses can access up to £250,000 in finance, with an advance of up to 100% and a maximum term of seven years.

UK’s newest bank, DF Capital, announces £1bn in total loans to date

DF Capital, a provider of working capital for SMEs, has supported UK brokers and manufacturers with over £1bn in loans since the firm opened for business in 2017, it has announced.

The newly authorised commercial lending and savings bank was granted a UK banking licence in September 2020.

Invigors EMEA sets October date for Dubai conference

Organisers of this year’s conference in Dubai, originally scheduled for March 3 & 4 2021, have postponed the event to October 13 & 14.

Event organisers, Invigors EMEA, said the Dubai authorities ordered hotels and restaurants to temporarily suspend live entertainment from 21 January due to Covid-19. 

The event is scheduled to take place at the Jumeirah Creekside Hotel. 

UK’s first net-zero emissions EV leasing service launched

Gridserve, a UK provider of electric vehicles and EV services, has launched Gridserve Electric Vehicle Solutions, the UK’s first net-zero electric vehicle leasing business, in partnership with Hitachi Capital (UK) Plc, the company said in a statement.

Gridserve Electric Vehicle Solutions is designed to bring the cost of driving electric well below that of petrol or diesel cars and minimise the environmental impact of EVs, the company said.

CSI Leasing announces expansion into India

US-based leasing firm – CSI Leasing – has expanded its Asia-Pacific operations to India.

With offices in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Australia, India represents a “significant opportunity”, according to Arnaldo Rodriguez, president of CSI Leasing.

CSI, an IT, health and media equipment lessor, has almost 50 years’ experience and more than $2bn in leased assets for fiscal year 2019.

Bibby in tie-up with Trade Ledger in bid to drive funding automation

Trade Ledger, a global tech provider for the financial services industry, has announced that Bibby Financial Services (BFS) has adopted its origination platform.

Trade Ledger’s Lending-as-a-Service platform allows funders to deploy business finance using cloud-native technologies, open banking APIs, and advanced analytics, the company said in a statement.

The platform, which was implemented in 12 weeks, will provide a digital self-service onboarding and application journey directly from the BFS website with prospects able to view and manage applications in a single portal.

UK SME finance provider 1pm rebrands to Time Finance

1pm plc, an independent specialist finance provider for UK SMEs, has changed its name to Time Finance plc, which means all companies within the Aim-listed 1pm Group will be renamed under the Time Finance brand.  

In a statement, the company said the name change supports the company’s goal of becoming a recognised force within the alternative finance market.

Quotevine rebrands to QV Systems

Quotevine, a provider of software and IT services for the UK asset finance sector, has changed its name to QV Systems, signifying the evolution of the company and its future direction, the company said in a press release.

QV Systems has also renamed its cloud-based platform, previously known as the Quotevine Platform as Accelerate, the company said.

Nordic Finance in tie-up with used equipment auction site

Nordic Finance, a Stockholm-based equipment finance lessor, has unveiled a collaboration with auction platform Budi.se for the leasing of used equipment and machines.

Nordic Finance said it has experienced increased interest from its customers recently in used machinery from both an economic and sustainability perspective.

28 January | Deal

Johnson & Johnson pauses vaccine trial

J&J has temporarily paused dosing in all its vaccine candidate clinical trials for Covid-19, including its Phase III ENSEMBLE trial after a study participant reported an unexplained illness.

The ENSEMBLE independent Data Safety Monitoring Board and J&J’s internal clinical and safety physicians are analysing the participant’s illness.

A study pause implies that the study sponsor halted enrolment or dosing, which is a standard component of a clinical trial protocol.

28 January | Deal

Johnson & Johnson pauses vaccine trial

J&J has temporarily paused dosing in all its vaccine candidate clinical trials for Covid-19, including its Phase III ENSEMBLE trial after a study participant reported an unexplained illness.

The ENSEMBLE independent Data Safety Monitoring Board and J&J’s internal clinical and safety physicians are analysing the participant’s illness.

A study pause implies that the study sponsor halted enrolment or dosing, which is a standard component of a clinical trial protocol.

4 February/ Scandinavia

Nordea sets target to become a net-zero emissions bank by 2050

Nordea Bank – a provider of asset finance and leasing in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland – has updated its plan to fully integrate sustainability into its business strategy with a long-term objective to become a net-zero emissions bank by 2050 at the latest. 

Nordea’s ambition is to become a bank with net-zero emissions by 2050 at the latest, the bank said in a statement. 

To reach this goal, Nordea has set a mid-term objective to reduce carbon emissions from its lending and investment portfolios by 40-50% by 2030, the bank said.

Nordea will also reduce its internal carbon emissions by at least 50% and achieve net positive carbon contribution by 2030. The baseline measurement for the objectives is 2019, the bank said.

4 January / IT budgets

IT budgets set to soar in 2021 in efforts to support remote working: 3stepIT

More than half (61%) of EU businesses expect IT budgets to rise in 2021 to manage the Covid-19 pandemic and enable employees to work from home, according to research by 3stepIT.

The average increase in European IT budgets will be just over 21% from 2019 levels. The largest increases are anticipated in Norway (37%) and Germany (27%), with the lowest increases in the UK (16%) and France (15%).

54% of businesses cited Covid-19 as the top factor driving spending changes in the next 12 months as IT strategies focus on facilitating social distancing (47%) and increased home working (46%) in 2021.

According to the ‘State of Business IT 2020’ report commissioned by sustainable technology lifecycle management provider 3stepIT, 25% of businesses surveyed believe budgets could increase by as much as 30% in the next 12 months.

Given that the average IT budget is approximately £2.7m across EU businesses, this could mean additional investment of over £800,000 in new technology.

13 January / UK leasing 

UK asset finance market shrank 10% during November lockdown: FLA

Total asset finance new business fell by 10% in November 2020 when compared with the same period in 2019, according to new figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA).

The commercial vehicle finance and business car finance sectors both registered a drop in new business in November 2020 of 1% and 5% respectively, when compared to 2019.

Meanwhile, plant and machinery finance reported a 14% fall and IT equipment finance 32% over the same period.

In related news, research from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) revealed that a record number of small business owners are planning to close their firms over the coming 12 months, putting the UK on course to lose more than a quarter of a million businesses.

The FSB surveyed 1,401 small firms for the Q4 2020 Small Business Index (SBI) at the end of December 2020. Of the firms surveyed, just under 5% say they expect to close this year.

4 January / Serbia leasing

Intesa Leasing Beograd and EIB agree on €40m Coivd recovery loan

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Intesa Leasing Beograd (ILB) have signed a €40m loan for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-caps in Serbia. 

The EIB is the lending arm of the European Union, the biggest multilateral financial institution in the world.

These funds will enable ILB to provide affordable lease finance to local companies under more flexible and favourable conditions, which are part of Covid-19 exceptional measures adopted by the EIB in May 2020, the EIB said. 

Businesses in sectors hit by the pandemic such as tourism, transport, logistics, retail, manufacturing and services will be able to access lease finance sources faster and with favourable conditions to address their short-term business continuity needs and longer-term investments. 

This is EIB’s third operation in Serbia as part of team Europe efforts and EIB’s own financing programme for the recovery of the private sector in the Western Balkans.