Seven of the largest ten leasing companies by granted financing for vehicle purchases posted double or even triple-digit growth in the first half, while only three companies funding equipment purchases posted double-digit growth.
Equipment funding did not have a very good first half, rising by merely 4% overall and accounting for 21% of the revenue of the leasing companies. One third of the largest ten companies saw a two-digit decline in funding.
UniCredit Leasing was in the lead on both the vehicle and equipment leasing segments, with a 17% and 32% market share. The company affiliated to UniCredit Tiriac Bank increased vehicle funding by 36% to EUR85 million in the first half, while the growth on the equipment segment stood a less than 1%, reaching EUR44 million.
Next in the ranking on the vehicle leasing segment, which accounts for almost three quarters of the market are Impuls Leasing and Porsche Leasing, with EUR51 million funding each. Impuls is a subsidiary of the Swiss group by the same name, while Porsche Leasing is the company affiliated to importer Porsche Inter Auto, which sells Volkswagen, Skoda and Seat cars.
Impuls rose to second place after the first half, thanks to an increase in funding by 29%. Porsche slipped to third, after sales rose by 9%, almost three times less than the market. The top five leasing companies also include Raiffeisen Leasing (EUR35 million) and VB Leasing (EUR31 million).
BRD Sogelease and BCR Leasing, the companies affiliated to the largest two banks in Romania rank sixth and seventh. The remaining three top ten companies are RCI Leasing (Renault), Garanti Leasing and Tiriac Leasing.
Second leading company on the equipment leasing segment was Raiffeisen Leasing, EUR13 million funding, followed by BRD Sogelease, with almost EUR13 million, Garanti Leasing and VB Leasing, EUR11 million and EUR9 million. BRD Sogelease posted the highest growth, 59%, followed by Garanti Leasing, 33% and Raiffeisen Leasing, 12%.
The other top ten leasing companies on the equipment leasing segment are BCR Leasing, BT Leasing, Impuls Leasing, IKB Leasing and Intesa Sanpaolo. BT Leasing, Impuls and Intesa posted double-digit decline in funding on the segment, while IKB Leasing posted 9% decline.
Leasing companies funded EUR139 million worth of equipment purchases in the first half, only EUR6 million more than in the year-ago period. The overall leasing market grew by 22% in the first half, to EUR665 million, after a bad 2013, when it saw a 10% decline. The growth in January-June was because of increase in vehicle purchase funding by 26% to more than half a billion euros.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)