In brief

The UK’s Leasing Foundation Diversity & Inclusion Group, in conjunction with Alfa and Auxillias, will host its inaugural LGBTQ+ Christmas Social on 9 December in Aldgate, London. The event is open to all from the leasing industry interested in joining a network of LGBTQ+ professionals and allies.

The Group helps companies in the asset finance industry to understand the business benefits of building inclusive leadership, management, organisations and teams. To register visit HERE.

Grenke AG, a Germany-based financier for SMEs, reported a net profit of €20.1m (-24 per cent compared to Q3 2020: €26.5m) in the third quarter of 2021. Grenke posted €32.3m in the first half of 2021. Due to the Covid pandemic, new business has declined in recent quarters, resulting in a year-on-year decrease in net interest income of €8.8m to €90.8m in the third quarter of 2021. The stable payment behaviour of customers led to a reduction of settlement of claims and risk provision from €47.4m to €37.3m.

Total asset finance new business (primarily leasing and hire purchase) grew by 6 per cent in September 2021 compared with the same month in 2020, according to figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA). In the nine months to September 2021, new business was 20 per cent higher than in the same period in 2020, the FLA reported. The plant & machinery finance sector reported new business up by 31 per cent, compared with the same month in 2020.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and DLL Ireland have agreed to an €80m green business investment initiative “set to accelerate the adoption of low energy and low emission equipment and machinery by companies across Ireland,” DLL said in a press release. The cooperation aims to stimulate new investments to reduce energy use and cut emissions and costs. The deal will strengthen new investments by Irish companies, farmers and entrepreneurs to reduce energy use. The agreement will also cut emissions and costs by adopting alternative and renewable energy and improving water and waste management, the lessor said.

Q3 in the UK delivered the best performance in terms of recovery to pre-pandemic volumes since the crisis began, recovering to 90% of typical volumes for this time of year in the UK, according to the Acquis Insurance index.

In a statement Acquis said: “Each year, lease inception volumes are impacted during Q3 by the August holiday dip, and this year was no exception in the UK; yet while the annual August effect is evident in the data, it appears shallower than in previous years, suggesting businesses are eager to make hay while the sun shines.”

The agricultural division of Haydock Finance has launched a product for the UK dairy sector. Dairy Cattle Finance “includes refinancing and has been designed to support British farmers with their cattle purchasing and cash flow requirements,” the provider said during an Agri Finance webinar unveiling to its broker partners. Jon Hercman, head of agriculture, said: “The agricultural industry makes up more than 9 per cent of the UK’s SMEs so we have been focused on developing more specialist finance solutions since our division launched in September last year.

UK-based asset finance provider Catfoss Finance has announced a block discounting partnership with investment manager Downing LLP for an undisclosed amount. In a statement, Catfoss said the facility would enable Catfoss to extend its reach to more UK SMEs, providing hire-purchase, leasing and refinance for business assets, the business. Ian Allder, head of block discounting at Downing, said: “This new partnership marks our continued commitment to the block market. Downing is delighted to support Catfoss’ growth and, in turn, assist thousands of UK SMEs to realise their ambitions.”

Two CSI Leasing subsidiaries – EPC Global Solutions UK and EPC Global Solutions Slovakia – have gained certifications from the British Standards Institution (BSI) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The subsidiaries, which are sister companies to EPC, Inc, a US-based IT asset disposition provider, have gained five management accreditations. For the UK subsidiary, ISO 45001 is a new certification, while all others are recertifications. This is the first time the Slovakian company has achieved all certifications. The certifications also apply to their parent companies, CSI Leasing UK Ltd and CSI Leasing Slovakia, s.r.o.

Alfa, a provider of Alfa Systems, a software platform for the equipment and automotive industry, has unveiled a new thought leadership series, Innovation in Implementation. The first article, #1 Derisking Your Systems Replacement Project through Phased Implementation, discusses the rise of agile methodologies and phased implementation approaches to technology to avoid risk. In the series, industry experts draw on their experience to discuss how asset finance organisations can work in an agile fashion to deliver on their software implementations, the software provider said.

Despite growing concerns from businesses around the mounting corporate e-waste they produce, and its impact on the environment, sustainability remains a low priority when looking to procure new IT. According to a survey by 3stepIT, over three-quarters of all European businesses agree that e-waste is a concern (77%), and a similar number of respondents believe that the pressure from their employees to act more sustainably is mounting (74%).