Deutsche Leasing achieved a new business volume of €8.3 billion for the year up to September 30, falling 8 percent short of last year’s record lending total.
The company said that its ownership by the Sparkassen Finanzgruppe (Germany’s savings banks organisation) had been a “substantial competitive advantage” during the year, but that liquidity had still been a major issue in the year’s first half.
“We were one of the select few players in the leasing market that were still generating new business,” says Hans-Michael Heitmüller, Deutsche Leasing’s Chief Executive Officer.
Around half of Germany’s leasing companies cut back on new business in the second half of 2009, according to figures from the German Leasing Association.
Deutsche Leasing, which owns 42 foreign subsidiaries in 22 countries, wrote €1.4 billion of overseas business over the year, some 11 percent less than last year.
The group opened new businesses in Austria and the Benelux region this year, and said in a statement that it will push to increase its market share in 2010.
Fred Crawley
