Equipment Leasing and Finance Industry Confidence Monitor
Source: Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation
Washington, DC (Sept. 19, 2019) — The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation (the Foundation) releases the September 2019 Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry (MCI-EFI) today. Designed to collect leadership data, the index reports a qualitative assessment of both the prevailing business conditions and expectations for the future as reported by key executives from the $1 trillion equipment finance sector. Overall, confidence in the equipment finance market is 54.7, a decrease from the August index of 58.9.
September 2019 Survey Results:
The overall MCI-EFI is 54.7, a decrease from 58.9 in August.
-
When asked to assess their business conditions over the next four months, 10.3% of executives responding said they believe business conditions will improve over the next four months, down from 16.7% in August. 75.9% of respondents believe business conditions will remain the same over the next four months, a decrease from 76.7% the previous month. 13.8% believe business conditions will worsen, up from 6.7% in August.
-
13.3% of the survey respondents believe demand for leases and loans to fund capital expenditures (capex) will increase over the next four months, a decrease from 16.7% who believed so in August. 76.7% believe demand will “remain the same” during the same four-month time period, a decrease from 80% the previous month. 10% believe demand will decline, up from 3.3% in August.
-
16.7% of the respondents expect more access to capital to fund equipment acquisitions over the next four months, 83.3% of executives indicate they expect the “same” access to capital to fund business, and none expect “less” access to capital, all unchanged from last month.
-
When asked, 30% of the executives report they expect to hire more employees over the next four months, a decrease from 31% in August. 63.3% expect no change in headcount over the next four months, an increase from 62.1% last month. 6.7% expect to hire fewer employees, down slightly from 6.9% last month.
-
20% of the leadership evaluate the current U.S. economy as “excellent,” down from 36.7% in August. 80% of the leadership evaluate the current U.S. economy as “fair,” an increase from 60% the previous month. None evaluate it as “poor,” down from 3.3% in August.
-
3.3% of the survey respondents believe that U.S. economic conditions will get “better” over the next six months, a decrease from 6.7% in August. 70% of survey respondents indicate they believe the U.S. economy will “stay the same” over the next six months, a decrease from 73.3% the previous month. 26.7% believe economic conditions in the U.S. will worsen over the next six months, an increase from 20% in August.
-
In September, 26.7% of respondents indicate they believe their company will increase spending on business development activities during the next six months, a decrease from 36.7% last month. 70% believe there will be “no change” in business development spending, an increase from 63.3% in August. 3.3% believe there will be a decrease in spending, up from none last month.
September 2019 MCI-EFI Survey Comments from Industry Executive Leadership:
“Companies across many sectors continue to invest in capital equipment projects to compete and succeed.” Alan Sikora, CEO, First American Equipment Finance
Read the full article here.