After a shaky start the German leasing
industry saw growth in 2010 which has continued into the first
quarter of 2011.
The annual report of the Bundesverband
Deutscher Leasing-Unternehmen (BDL), the German leasing trade
association, has shown the country’s equipment leasing market grew
by 2.5% in 2010 as Germany emerged from recession.
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Total equipment leasing business was up from
€40bn to €41bn in 2010.
The growth is more significant on the back of
21% contraction in the industry in 2009 from €50.9bn the previous
year.
Martin Mudersbach, president of the BDL, said:
“The economic crisis has ended for the leasing industry.”
The industry was still in negative territory
at the start of 2010 and only reached positive growth in the second
quarter according to the report published in August.
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By GlobalDataBDL put the stuttered start down to a delay
between orders placed and delivery of equipment.
The pattern continues this year as the
organisation’s first quarter trend report for 2011 shows growth of
18%.
Equipment leasing growth in Germany, which has
the largest leasing market in Europe, was driven by different
customer groups and types of leasing company.
For example, new business written by lessors
with close ties to manufacturers was up 7.4% in 2010 while
bank-owned lessors saw a decline in new deals by 2.3% over the same
period.
Growth levels were also spread across customer
industries. Equipment leasing to agriculture, mining and public
utility companies soared 35% in 2010 with public sector lease
contracts increasing 26%.
While these sectors experienced significant
growth, combined they only represent 6% of the leasing market.
The German services industry, including banks,
insurance companies, hotels and bars, makes up a third of the
leasing industry’s custom and grew 2% in 2010 which is roughly
equal to double the growth of public sector and agriculture
industry business combined in monetary terms.
Of the assets leased in 2010, vehicles
represented the overwhelming majority with passenger cars measuring
53% of all leases and commercial vehicles in second place with 15%
of the market.
Mudersbach said he anticipated the positive
start to 2011 to continue and predicted the leasing sector could
record growth of between 11% and 14% for the year.
grant.collinson@vrlfinancialnews.com
