All articles by Grant Collinson
Grant Collinson
Cost of borrowing remains flat across Europe
The interest rate decision follows the European Central Banks announcement the previous day to maintain the cost of borrowing at 1% despite calls to lower it to help ease the eurozone crisis after a turbulent few days.
Diversity needed in funding of real economy
Quoting a report by financial services consultants McKinsey, Gouin, global head of SGEFs high tech division, said if banks maintain their current business model, return-on-equity could drop by between 7 and 11% by 2015 and added there was clear need for a revolution in banking, including leasing divisions. Gouin was speaking at the Invigors Executive Briefing on Manufacturer Finance, where the subject under discussion was the role of asset finance in the manufacturing business model.
George Lynn retires after 18 years with Angel
In 18 years at Angel Trains, Lynn oversaw huge developments within the company including its inception at the time of British Rail privatisation, three changes of ownership, and raised over £6.5bn in finance for the business. He played a central role in the successful refinancing of the companys long-term debt, diversifying its sources of finance and its debt maturity profile.
Government discount lending ‘positive’ for finance
The UK governments National Loan Guarantee Scheme (NLGS) has been hailed as very positive for finance as two major banks have utilised the programme to provide discounted asset finance deals. Barclays Asset Finance has used the NLGS to provide a £2.6m (3.3m) finance deal to waste management and recycling company, Roydon Group. Lombard, the asset finance division of the Royal Bank of Scotland, has also used the scheme to provide a £250,000 facility to specialist glass manufacturer T4 Design.
Fleet Friday: Athlon car share, Lex partnership
Fleet lessor Athlon Car Lease has signed a partnership with car share company SnappCar in the two companies home nation of the Netherlands. Through the deal, Athlon will give its customers the option to rent out their leased vehicles to private individuals via SnappCars online market place.
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Leasing helps Games sound good
Specialist broadcast equipment finance broker Azule Finance has helped finance a the loudspeaker systems to be used at the London 2012 Coca Cola Olympic torch relay concerts. A six-figure hire purchase deal allowed RG Jones Sound Engineering to purchase the state-of-the-art Martin Audio MLA loudspeaker systems for use in series of outdoor concerts which begin in Cardiff tomorrow. The Martin Audio MLA (multi-cellular loudspeaker array) speaker system is the first large scale concert PA system with the ability to focus the sound output on particular areas of the crowd thereby reducing noise levels outside of the concert areas.
Steady growth in April for US leasing
New business volume for leasing in the US during April was $6.1bn (4.8bn), representing 20% year-on-year growth but a decline of 10% from the previous month. The latest figures from the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) show new business growth of $1bn on the April 2011 figure of $5.1bn The total represents a drop of $700m in new business compared to March this year, a month which itself saw 36% consecutive growth and 10% growth year-on-year.
3 Step IT add Nordic funder
IT leasing and management company 3 Step IT has signed a funding partnership with Swedish bank Ikano Bank. The Finland-headquartered firm said the partnership was necessitated by increasing business volumes in the Swedish market Peter Onstrand, managing director for 3 Step IT in Sweden, said: Were very pleased to welcome Ikano as one of our new funding partners
Loan write-offs to rise in double-dip Britain
The UKs banks and lenders are expected to write off the highest number of commercial loans in nearly 20 years, following confirmation the economy is in a double-dip recession.