print finance divisions
It has been a difficult summer for the HSBC banking group, and
the winter is looking dreary too after the bank set aside $12bn to
bail out two structured investment vehicles from the sub-prime
mortgage mess.
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But all seems sunny at HSBC Equipment Finance in the UK, as the
division switches to high gear for expected growth.
“[We’ve performed] very successfully, it’s a significant
improvement over 2006 and it’s very much looked on by the rest of
HSBC as a place to invest,” said the division’s head Derren Sanders
without disclosing figures.
He added that the asset finance business at Europe’s largest
bank has not “seen any downturn in business since the summer”.
HSBC is expanding resources in this division, having formed a
specialised team for commercial vehicle leasing, and added one more
staff member for its print equipment sector.
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By GlobalDataCommercial vehicle leasing, which is seeing high growth
throughout the industry, is a bright spark at HSBC Equipment
Finance, and according to Sanders, return on capital in this
segment was very strong, even if margins were not
exceptional.
He said: “We feel we’re under-represented [there] and we have a lot
of customers within HSBC who need to fund commercial vehicles,
buses, trucks but we’ve not necessarily been tapping into them
within the equipment finance operations.”
The newly appointed head of commercial vehicle finance,
Christopher Bowden, has a target of growing business assets in 2008
by 25 per cent.
“It’s a big part of the asset finance market, we were writing a
lot of business with commercial vehicle operators and coach and bus
operators, and the thinking behind it is we want to really get
closer to those sectors, enhance our understanding and provide a
more professional service,” he said.
Bowden, who served for the past three years as head of print
finance, will also be looking to form a team of seven specialised
staff for his department.
Prospects for commercial vehicle leasing remain strong as the
industry faces new challenges of rising oil prices, higher fuel
duties next year, the expansion of the London Low Emissions zone,
and increasing competition for UK-based hauliers from EU ones. All
this will trigger further need for equipment replacement and fleet
replacement.
Therefore, the 25 per cent growth target doesn’t seem lofty to
Bowden. “We think it’s achievable and we think it’s a sector that
warrants a team that can really get under the skin of it and get
close to our customers,” he said.
Meanwhile, the print finance sector has a new head in Simon
France, an experienced hand with six years experience in the
business.
