Latest financial results from top Italian
leasing companies have revealed the extent to which they have been
scarred by the recession.

UniCredit Leasing, the top Italian market
player last year, reported a 17 percent decrease in total revenues,
to €166 million. Net interest income also fell, by 7 percent,
compared to the first quarter of 2008, and by 15 percent compared
to the last three months of last year.

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This was largely due to higher costs of funds,
lower business volume and certain one-off items recognised in Q408,
according to UniCredit Leasing.

Meanwhile, the lessor has launched a number of
initiatives aimed at reducing the impact of the deteriorating
economic situation. This included the combination of its Italian
subsidiary, Locat, with UniCredit Global Leasing, and the creation
of a new organisational unit to manage international transactions
and develop a vendor leasing channel with leading industrial and
commercial companies.

Leasint, Italy’s second-largest leasing
player, also faced a difficult last quarter. Its number of new
contracts totalled 2,600, which combined were worth €536 million –
a 50 percent reduction from the same period last year.

Net profits totalled €13 million, down 39.8
percent year-on-year, while net proceeds amounted to €63 million,
up 6 percent from last year. In terms of breakdown of assets,
Leasint’s real estate leasing business represented 43.5 percent of
the total portfolio, car leasing totalled 8.7 percent, and
equipment and movable assets represented a combined 47.8
percent.

Troubled Banca Italease reported a net loss of
€18.4 million and net doubtful receivables of almost €3.78
billion.

The company blamed the negative results on the
“development of the economic recession, the scarcity and high cost
of financial resources, and the concentration of the receivables
portfolio and its exposure to the real estate business”.

The lessor is currently undergoing a major
restructuring which the company expects will reverse the negative
trend of the last two years.

Antonio
Fabrizio