All articles by Verdict Staff
Verdict Staff
EU clears Porterbrook acquisition
The EU Commission has given the go-ahead for the acquisition of Porterbrook Leasing by a consortium of international investors. Deutsche Bank, Lloyds TSB and BNP Paribas have obtained by the EU executive clearance to acquire Porterbrook, the rolling stock leasing company owned by Abbey.
A cushion for Down Under?
It is now clear that Australian financiers are concerned about the turmoil in the world of finance, with many organisations hunkering down through preserving capital and lending to the best customers
Lessors close branches as credit crunch starts to bite
Leasing companies in Russia are beginning to feel the impact of the global economic turmoil, and are beginning to take steps to minimise costs. Russian lessors attending the Leasing in Russia conference in Barcelona, organised by C5, spoke openly about the effect that the credit crunch was having on their business. Thus far, the credit crunch has not been as destructive in Russia as it has been in Europe and the Far East, said Dr Victor Gazman, a professor at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow.
Taking stock
As demand for dealers equipment declines, and manufacturers are producing less, what is the future of stocking finance Stock funding (SF) has traditionally been associated with the motor industry, but dealers of all asset types are equally in need, potentially no more so than at present.
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Passing the cost of changes to customers
The recent turmoil in the financial markets has led to banks and leasing companies concentrating on the costs associated with their liquidity and regulatory capital requirements. Market disruption clauses have frequently been invoked by financiers over the past few weeks in an attempt to pass their additional funding costs on to borrowers. The question arises as to whether they can also pass onto their customers the cost of any changes to the regulatory capital they are required to ascribe to any financing.
Iveco’s leasing arm beats off Scania in price war
Iveco Capital has won its first deal to supply commercial vehicles to Widdowson, the UK haulage company. The Italian bus and truck manufacturer will provide Widdowson with five new Iveco Stralis tractor units under a five-year operating lease provided by Iveco Capital. The Leicester-based company, whose 150-unit fleet has been provided by Scania for the past three years, ordered the trucks after running a Stralis demonstrator for about a month
Scale depends on future of credit crunch, warns Amstel
Despite sudden changes at Amstel Lease during the past few months, its vendor finance business seems to remain unchanged for the time being. But the company, entangled in a government takeover, has warned that the scale of its 2009 vendor finance activities will depend on how badly the credit crunch hits vendors. Robert Peterson, Amstel Leases director of strategy and innovation, said: Our level of vendor finance business is not changing, and the same goes with the rest of our other business lines.
Siemens FS focuses efforts on project finance
Despite liquidity shortages, Siemens Financial Services (SFS) will use the Siemens balance sheet to offer more project finance to its customers, Joe Kaeser, Siemens chief financial officer, has announced. Kaeser said that looking forward, the company would increasingly act as a bank for its customers and use its financial services unit and the Siemens balance sheet to offer project finance to its customers. Kaeser also announced that SFS had expanded its balance sheet by 2 billion to 11 billion in the last fiscal year.
Competition Commission proposes longer train franchises
Train operating companies (TOCs) should be given longer franchise terms because of the high costs of leasing rolling stock they face, according to a recently published document by the Competition Commission. The independent public body, which carries out investigations into mergers, markets and the regulated industries, listed several possible remedies which included franchise terms of 12-15 years or longer, which would give train operators the incentive to purchase new rolling stock or switch to alternative used rolling stock. The Competition Commission also said that rolling stock lessors should provide companies running the UKs trains with a “set list of information” which would give them the ability to negotiate with ROSCOs more effectively.