All articles by Grant Collinson
Grant Collinson
Investec targets mid-ticket broker business
Investec Asset Finance has recruited a mid-ticket asset finance team to develop broker business for deals over £500,000. Transactions will be sourced from current broker relationships but the lessor is keen to develop relationships with new brokers Investec, which previously focused on transactions below the £500k figure, has appointed Mark Booth, formerly of Lombard, to develop its broker business on a national basis
Econocom to acquire IT security firm
Econocom, which provides IT consultancy, distribution, and outsourcing as well as leasing services, said the deal is part of a strategy of targeted acquisitions to help the French-headquartered firm address the issues of changing technologies and patterns of use in IT. Luc De Clerck, services director for Econocom France, said: With the advent of cloud computing, mobile computing, and the proliferation of tablets and smartphones, companies IT systems are changing, and this raises a number of security issues, requiring increased protection of sensitive data
NetSol expects record annual revenue
The figures represent the companys best-ever annual and final-quarter figures and top the estimates made by NetSol in the previous quarter of of $35.5m annual revenue and growth of 30 to 40% from the first half of the fiscal year to the second
Profit more than doubles at growing UK lender
The AIM-listed firm posted pre-tax profit of £436,027 for the year to 31 May 2012, up 116% from £202,330 year-on-year. Revenues at the SME lender grew 21% to £2.31m, from £1.91m in 2011, and the company announced it has grown its lease book by 8.9% to £11m.
Change in UK tax rules to favour overseas lessors
Speaking at the KPMG Leasing and Asset Finance Forum in London, Michael Kearney, a tax manager at the professional services firm, said the controlled foreign company (CFC) rules included in the Finance Bill 2012 will remove a disincentive in the current system. CFC rules are designed to stop UK companies artificially diverting profits from the UK into lower-tax jurisdictions through an overseas company by broadly treating the profits of that overseas company as arising in the UK-resident
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Norton Rose hire boosts shipping finance practice
Shipping finance lawyer Simon Lew has joined law firm Norton Rose after 16 years with Clifford Chance. Lew, a specialist in structured finance, leasing and restructuring for transport and financial institutions clients, will join as partner with Norton Roses London-based asset finance team Lew has led the ship finance practice at Clifford Chance for the last five years and also has experience in rail and other asset classes.
US equipment investment revised down again
The continuation of the eurozone crisis, the slowdown in emerging markets, and regulatory uncertainty have all helped to stifle confidence in US equipment leasing for the second consecutive quarter. The latest quarterly economic outlook from the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation (ELFF), the research arm of the US leasing trade body, the Equipment Leasing & Finance Association (ELFA), has projected 6.4% growth in equipment and software investment for the third quarter of 2012, down from 6.9% predicted in the previous three months.
Not-for-profit foundation to boost leasing
A quorum of European leasing professionals has established a not-for-profit organisation called the Leasing Foundation to promote and develop the industry and encourage charitable initiatives The brainchild of Andrew Denton, chief operating officer of CHP Consulting and Derek Soper of consultants IAA-Advisory, the Foundations mission is to support the industry through research and personnel development programmes. The Foundation will be advised by a board of Governors with Tarun Mistry, head of Grant Thornton UKs Leasing & Consumer Finance practice and Professor Peter Thomas, a specialist in research and computing, joining Denton and Soper as directors.
UK leasing 3 years from full recovery – FLA
UK sub-£20m asset finance business grew 9% in May compared to April and was up 11% year-on-year, continuing a trend which could take the market back to pre-credit crunch levels by 2015. The Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) reported its members provided £1.79bn (2.26bn) in sub-£20m asset finance in May compared to £1.65bn in April.
Fleet Friday: Danone, Arval and Alphabet
The week’s fleet news from the UK and Europe. The Renault-Nissan Alliance is set to supply 15,000 vehicles across 25 markets in an exclusive, five-year deal with Spanish French food corporation Danone