All articles by Fred Crawley
Fred Crawley
Minsk Transport Bank to lend ?10 million from EBRD
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has extended a 10 million loan to the Belariusian Minsk Transit Bank over five years, with the money to be used for lending through asset finance to small and medium sized businesses.
Catering: safe assets with lots of room for financing
Rumours of the catering industrys death have been greatly exaggerated by the banks or so it would seem from the thousands of solvent small businesses currently trying, and failing, to make even the most unambitious equipment purchases through asset finance.
Allen & Overy beefs up asset finance practice with restructure move
Law firm Allen & Overy (A&O) has bolstered its Canary Wharf-based structured and asset finance team with partners from its City of London base, as part of a restructuring strategy being executed by banking practice co-managing partners, Stephen Kensell and Andrew Trahair. The move has seen A&Os leveraged finance unit, led by Tim Polglase, moved from Bishops Square to the Wharf and split between the firms structured and asset finance and project finance groups
Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions still profitable
Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions (HCVS) has announced a £3.2 million (3.7 million) profit at the close of its financial year, despite reporting significant difficulties in both CV and car markets. HCVS attributes the profitable result to prudent risk management, and mitigation of residual value losses through contract extension and widening sales channels for used vehicles.
Pressure on as new clawback and commission rules bite
The business landscape for UK brokers has been turned on its head over the past year and, while the most publicised changes have been to the amount of business that banks are willing to fund, there have been equally significant changes to the fundamental ways in which brokers make their money. Pre-recession, trading agreements with lessors often ran to only two pages, but as times have become tougher, funders have tightened and elaborated their criteria for doing business, to the point where one Siemens Financial Services document mentioned to Leasing Life weighed in at close to 30 pages.
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Canon France in vendor partnership with Crédit Agricole Leasing
French leasing landmark Crdit Agricole Leasing (CAL) has forged a major new vendor partnership with print systems manufacturer Canons French arm. The agreement, which will run initially for four years until February 2013, will support sales of products from Canon France subsidiaries Canon Business Centers and Fac-simil.
Carillion trials new biofuelled CV with British Army
Fleet specialist Carillion has begun a 6 month biofuel trial in its contract with the British Armys Catterick Garrison, with an eye to rolling out biofuel technology on a larger scale if the scheme proves successful. With many lessees in the public sector looking to meet emissions reduction targets in the coming years, the ability to provide a biofuel offering could be a significant advantage to lessors targeting government-funded customers. The project will see a diesel-engined Peugeot Expert van run on used chip fat from the garissons 38 canteens, providing an estimated £2,500 annual saving on the vehicles fuel bill.
Call for leasing to save ferry service
A prominent Scottish councillor has called on leasing to solve a chronic funding problem in the Western Isles region, as citizens of Scotlands remote Outer Hebrides face increasing waits between visits from aging ferry boats The Western Isles ferry fleet, operated by Calmac Ferries and owned by holding company CMAL, has failed to meet targets aimed at replacing one ferry a year, meaning that many vessels are now more than five years past the proposed replacement age of 25. Now, with the increasingly tattered fleet struggling to make its rounds on time, Transport consultant firm Faber Maunsell has suggested that rejuvenation of the service may cost up to £0.25 billion a price tag that demanding more capital than is likely to be granted to the dwindling population of the islands.
Textainer reports for Q1: still hungry to acquire
Textainer, the owner of the planets largest container fleet, has reported relatively robust Q1 results, just days after acquiring management rights to the fleet of British lessor Amficon. Whereas revenue for the quarter stood down 18 percent year on year at $59.6 million (44.7 million), the company paid a $0.23 dividend for each common share held on March 3rd.
FLA & Grant Thornton hold bad debt event
With UK business insolvencies during Q1 rising 57 percent year-on-year to reach a figure of 5,483, mitigating the risk of client insolvency has become an issue of grave importance to financiers Prompted by this upsurge in corporate insolvency, experts from across the industry gathered at the London offices of Grant Thornton UK LLP yesterday, for an FLA event focused on managing and avoiding bad debt. The series of seminars, entitled Cant Pay, Wont Pay!, addressed the options for finance providers faced with clients in all stages of financial distress, from missed payments through to recovery and disposal of assets.