ELFA Survey Reports Overall New Business 2014 Volume Growth at 6.7%

WASHINGTON, D.C. — New business volume grew 6.7 percent in the equipment finance industry in 2014, according to the 2015 Survey of Equipment Finance Activity released by the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association. The rise in new business volume marked the fifth consecutive year that businesses increased their spending on capital equipment.

The SEFA report, now celebrating its 40th year, covers key statistical, financial and operations information for the $903-billion equipment finance industry, based on a comprehensive survey of 100 ELFA member companies. The report includes an expanded executive summary and is available at www.elfaonline.org/SEFA.  

ELFA also released a companion report to the 2015 SEFA called the 2015 Small-Ticket Survey of Equipment Finance Activity. The report, which focuses on small-ticket and micro-ticket equipment transactions among the SEFA respondents, found that new business volume in the small-ticket space grew by 7.1 percent in 2014.

Survey highlights:
Key findings for 2014 as reported in the 2015 SEFA include :

• Overall new business volume grew 6.7 percent.
• From an asset perspective, the top-five most-financed equipment types were transportation, IT and related technology services, agricultural, construction and industrial/manufacturing equipment.
• Overall, cost of funds increased slightly.
• Assets under management grew 8.6 percent.
• Net income increased 15.2 percent.
• Overall, delinquencies remained steady.
• Credit approvals decreased slightly.
• Employment levels grew moderately by 1.7 percent.
• Electronic documents: For the first time, the SEFA asked respondents about their use of electronic documents for funding new business volume. A total of 70 percent reported some use of electronic documents.