Equipment Lease Finance Industry Confidence Drops 10 Points in June 2012

The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation (the Foundation) released the June 2012 Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry (MCI-EFI) today. Overall, confidence in the equipment finance market is 48.5, down from the May index of 59.2, reflecting growing concern over the European debt crisis, U.S. unemployment, and regulatory and political uncertainty. 

June 2012 Survey Results:

When asked to assess their business conditions over the next four months:

• 8.1% of executives responding said they believe business conditions will improve over the next four months, down from 17.1% in May; 64.9% of respondents believe business conditions will remain the same over the next four months, down from 77.1% in May; 27% believe business conditions will worsen, up from 5.7% the previous month
• 8.1% of survey respondents believe demand for leases and loans to fund capital expenditures (capex) will increase over the next four months, a decrease from 20% in May; 64.9% believe demand will remain the same during the same four-month time period, down from 77.1% the previous month; 27% believe demand will decline, up from 2.9% in May
• 10.8% of executives expect more access to capital to fund equipment acquisitions over the next four months, down from 25.7% in May; 86.5% of survey respondents indicate they expect the same access to capital to fund business, an increase from 74.3% the previous month; 2.7% survey respondents expect less access to capital, up from no one who expected less access in May
• 24.3% of executives reported they expect to hire more employees over the next four months, down from 31.4% in May; 64.9% expect no change in headcount over the next four months, an increase from 62.9% last month; while 10.8% expect fewer employees, up from 5.7% in May
• 78.4% of the leadership evaluates the current U.S. economy as "fair," down from 88.6% last month; 21.6% rate it as "poor," up from 11.4% in May
• 8.1% of survey respondents believe that U.S. economic conditions will get better over the next six months, down from 22.9% in May; 64.9% of survey respondents indicate they believe the U.S. economy will stay the same over the next six months, down from 65.7% in May; 27% believe economic conditions in the U.S. will worsen over the next six months, an increase from 11.4% who believed so last month
• 29.7% of respondents indicated they believe their company will increase spending on business development activities during the next six months, down from 37.1% in May; 70.3% believe there will be no change in business development spending, up from 62.9% last month; and no one believes there will be a decrease in spending, unchanged from last month

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 $628 billion equipment finance sector.