All articles by Verdict Staff
Verdict Staff
In brief 2
HSBC: £2 billion rail sale looming HSBC is to sell its train leasing business, HSBC Rail, for a price of £2 billion (2.27 billion) Australian financial services group Macquarie and investment giant JPMorgan are understood to be interested in making the purchase as a joint venture, while Star Capital is also in the bidding
In Brief
Despite a consolidated loss in 2009, Volvo Financial Services said it saw signs of recovery in the last months of the year.The customer finance arm of the Swedish truck maker recorded an operating loss of SEK680 million (67.7 million) for the full year, but an operating profit of SEK15 million in the fourth quarter of 2009 New business volume decreased by 41 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2008 as a result of lower deliveries of Volvo Group products, the company said.In total, 6,522 new Volvo Group units were financed during the quarter (compared to 11,966 in the fourth quarter of 2008).
Machine tools
Leasing Life, in collaboration with Tallon & Associates, publishes a monthly analysis of data on the demand for used assets This month, we look at changes in demand for machine tools. Conventional machine tools
Latest moves from around Europe
Lawrence Chambers has joined Caterpillar Financial Services (Cat FS), where he is in charge of customer and portfolio management His job remit covers collections and remarketing across Cat FS business in Northern Europe, Turkey, Africa and the Middle East
Databank
FLA member business finance volumes in December totalled £1.5 billion (1.7 billion), of which the large majority (£1.4 billion) related to small-medium ticket activities (below £20 million ticket size)
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Survival of the fittest
Recent recruitment drives and growth plans at UK brokerages have been an encouraging sign for the intermediary sector, made more so by the number of senior leasing executives showing up in new hires. Cheltenham-based Associated Commercial Finance (ACF) was the latest to take on new senior staff, hiring four industry veterans at the end of last year
St Helen’s Finance: losses widen
Listed lessor St Helen’s Finance (SHF) has posted a loss of £0.93 million for the year leading to 31 December 2009, a significant increase on the previous years loss figure of 0.22 million.SHFs turnover fell by 35 percent over the year to reach £0.87 million, with bad debt provisions swelling to £0.97 million in addition to a general provision of £0.1m.Executive chairman Rick Abbott commented that the company would pull back from general asset finance provision and concentrate on specific asset sectors, although he did not specify which
On the move
Leaseurope has appointed Massimiliano Moi, CEO of UniCredit Leasing, as a new member of its board of directors
Cranes
Leasing Life, in collaboration with Tallon & Associates, provides an analysis of data on the demand for used assets – No demand for such cranes in the UK at present due to downturn within the large-scale construction sector