Confidence among asset finance industry executives in the US rose in November, according to The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation (ELFF) monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry (MCI-EFI).
On the Index scale of up to 100, businesses confidence stood at 64.2 in November, up from 60.4 in October. This was also the highest figure since May.
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When asked to assess their business conditions over the next four months the majority (69.7%) of the 50 leasing executives interviewed said it would stay the same, while 27.3% said they felt it would improve. Just 3% said business conditions would worsen over the period.
This compared to 71.4% expecting business conditions to remain the same, 25.7% expecting it to improve and 3% expecting it to lessen in the October Index.
30.3% of the respondents predicted demand for leases and loans to fund capital expenditure would increase over the next four months, up from 25.7% in October. 66.7% said demand would remain the same in this period, down from 71.4%, while those who foresaw a drop in demand remained unchanged, at 3%.
The number of executives who expected access to capital to increase over the next four months jumped from 11.4% in October to 21.4% in November. The remainder said it would remain the same, as in both October and November, no one expected it to decrease.
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By GlobalDataThe number of respondents expecting to hire more employees also increased month-on-month, up from 40% in October to 45.4% in November. 6.1% expected fewer employees, down from 11.4% in October while the amount who expected it to stay the same was unchanged at 48.5%.
Valerie Hayes Jester, president of Brandywine Capital Associates., said, "The mid-term elections are now over and consumer confidence seems to be improving, as gas prices and unemployment statistics continue to decrease. We have experienced an increase in demand for capital equipment purchases and, more importantly, financing for those orders. Another important note is that the equipment being requisitioned appears to be associated with business expansion and not just replacement of older assets."
