The leasing industry was significantly affected by the crisis, especially by the collapse of car sales, and reported a cumulated decline of almost 80% in 2009 and 2010. Last year’s growth comes amid a slight recovery of the economy, as well as at a time when leasing companies diversified their portfolios and moved away from the car segment.
“The leasing market has matured and one can notice that the first seven or eight players have restructured their offer. (…) They were more crisis-resistant and even started to make a profit,” said Antoaneta Curteanu, ALB president and general manager of UniCredit Leasing – the market leader.
She says the share of cars to new financing granted by leasing companies in 2011 fell to two thirds of the total, from 80% on 2005-2006. Leasing has been traditionally associated with the financing of car acquisitions, but increasingly more players have in the last few years turned towards financing of equipment and buildings in order to compensate for the drastic decline in sales of new cars during the crisis period.
“We don’t want to cling to the auto segment, but we will continue to finance this segment. In the case of equipment financing, profit margins are smaller (…) but the advantage is that unlike vehicles, equipment keeps its physical integrity,” says the head of UniCredit Leasing.
Around one third of financing granted last year by leasing companies went to equipment acquisitions. The main sectors targeted were agriculture, renewable energy, medical services, as well as the construction sector.
UniCredit Leasing last year granted financing worth EUR258 million, i.e. an around 20% market share. The Italian-held bank has dominated the leasing market for several years and has a comfortable lead over second-ranking company Porsche Leasing, with an around 9% market share.
The next positions in the ranking are filled by leasing companies held by banks such as Raiffeisen, Piraeus, Volksbank and BCR.
The brand force of a major bank and its sales force can substantially contribute to boosting the sales of the affiliated leasing company, and some banks moved during the crisis to a strategy of direct support of the leasing companies they control.
Leasing companies affiliated to banks last year financed goods worth EUR826 million, i.e. around 64% of the total. Companies controlled by car dealers hold 20% of the market, while independent ones have an around 15% cumulated market share.
(English version by Daniela Stoican)