European equipment leasing grew 12% in 2011,
with new business volume reported by Leaseurope members totalling
€224bn for the year compared to €200bn in 2010.
As with the
half-year figures published by the European leasing trade body,
the inclusion of figures from the Russian industry helped push up
growth.
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Without figures from the United Leasing
Association of Russia (ULA), which became a Leaseurope member in
2011, European growth was 6% year-on-year.
In addition to dramatic growth in the Russian
market, which increased by two-thirds from 2010, largely backed by
big-ticket leasing, the Baltic States markets and Eastern European
markets such as Bulgaria and Ukraine also saw significant
year-on-year growth.
Among Europe’s more mature markets, Germany,
which boasts a 19% market share, was up 15% year-on-year, France
grew 12%, Netherlands 9% and the UK grew 7%.
The southern European countries, whose
economies have been the worst affected by the eurozone crisis, all
saw annual declines in equipment leasing. Greek leasing fell 43%,
Spanish was down 24%, Italian dropped 6% and Portuguese fell
34%.
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By GlobalDataMost leasing segments experienced steady
growth in 2011, according to Leaseurope, although vehicle leasing,
in particular commercial vehicle leasing, made an important
contribution to the overall growth in 2011, up 17% on 2010
volumes.
The total Leaseurope figure for 2011,
including real estate leasing, was €248bn, up 11% from 2010.
Jukka Salonen, Leaseurope’s chairman and chief
executive of Nordea Finance, said: “While the macroeconomic
environment remained difficult in 2011, our industry has emerged
with strong overall results for the year.
“Challenges lay ahead in 2012 and it is
crucial that we maintain this path by operating with stronger
fundamentals combined with improved speed, service and flexibility
so that our industry remains an attractive value proposition for
its stakeholders.”
Piero Biagi, chair of Leaseurope’s Statistics
& Marketing Committee and managing director of BCC Lease,
Italy, added: “The stalling of European economic recovery in the
second half of 2011 accentuated differences between individual
leasing markets and, in particular, the South of Europe compared to
other countries.
“Despite this more difficult second part of
the year, our industry has continued to outpace total equipment
investment growth in Europe. Growth of equipment leasing bodes well
for European business investment, which is necessary to maintain
the economic momentum.”
grant.collinson@vrlfinancialnews.com
