Equipment Leasing and Finance Association's Survey of Economic Activity: Monthly Leasing and Finance Index

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association's Monthly Leasing and Finance Index, which reports economic activity from 25 companies representing a cross section of the $903-billion equipment finance sector, showed their overall new business volume for January was $6.7 billion, up 12 percent from new business volume in January 2014. Volume was down 48 percent from December, following the typical end-of-quarter, end-of-year spike in new business activity.  

Receivables over 30 days were 1.1 percent, up slightly from 1 percent the previous month and from 1 percent the same period in 2014.   Charge-offs were unchanged for the tenth consecutive month at an all-time low of 0.2 percent.

Credit approvals totaled 78.6 percent in January, unchanged from December. Total headcount for equipment finance companies was up 1.0 percent year over year.

Separately, the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation’s Monthly Confidence Index (MCI-EFI) for February is 66.3, a slight increase from the January index of 66.1 and the highest level in the last three years.