The only notable moves in the leasing company ranking are the rise of the Swiss-owned Impuls Leasing to third, the drop of BRD Sogelease from two to fifth and the return of BCR Leasing among the top ten, after a spectacular fall last year.
The largest company on the financial leasing market in midyear was UniCredit Leasing, which granted EUR126 million funding from January through June. UniCredit, the market leader of several years, is now far ahead of the number two in the ranking, Porsche Leasing, which granted EUR54 million funding in the first six months.
Very close behind Porsche is Impuls Leasing, controlled by the eponymous Swiss group, which posted EUR52 million financing in midyear, close to the volume of the entire 2010.
The next five spots were occupied by companies affiliated to banks only, which shows that a big bank’s brand and sales force can play a decisive role in the growth of revenue. During the crisis, several banks adopted a strategy of providing direct support to the affiliated companies with their own sales force.
Fourth is Austrian-held Volksbank Leasing, with EUR46 million in the first half, followed by BRD Sogelease, the affiliated company of the second-largest local bank, with EUR42 million.
Sogelease had climbed to second place among leasing companies last year, after a 35% increase in the new funding granted, mainly because of sale & lease back contracts.
BCR Leasing, the leasing company of the BCR group, which includes the largest bank on the market, returned to a spot among the top ten, after dropping from 2 to 17 in 2010. The company was sixth in mid this year, with EUR37 million funding, double the level of the entire last year.
BCR Leasing focused on cleaning up its balance sheet last year and another cause for the drop in business was the transfer of the real estate financing operations by Immorent, a company of the Erste group, BCR’s majority shareholder.
Raiffeisen Leasing remained seventh among financial leasing companies, having granted EUR36 million financing in the first six months. The company’s sales increased by 80% compared with the same time in 2010, as funding granted for the purchase of vehicles doubled.
Out of all major banks, Raiffeisen moved to a strategy of direct support of Raiffeisen Leasing with its own sales force in 2010 and one of the targets set was for the bank to provide up to 40% of the new business of the affiliated leasing company. This strategy started to work as the leasing company saw two-digit growth last year and this year, after witnessing a decline of over 90% in 2009.
Greek-held Piraeus Leasing is the last of the top eight financial leasing companies, with EUR25 million in the first half. It held the same position last year.
Afin Leasing, the company affiliated to the Iveco dealer is no longer among the eight leading financial leasing companies compared with 2010. Afin was fifth in December, with almost EUR58 million in funding and a 5% market share.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)