Equipment finance industry confidence at all-time high in April

Confidence in the equipment finance market has reached 76.1, an all-time high and an increase from the March index of 67.7, according to the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation’s April 2021 confidence index released today.

The report, known as the Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry (MCI-EFI), provides a qualitative assessment of both the prevailing business conditions and expectations for the future as reported by key executives from the $900 billion equipment finance sector.

When asked about the outlook for the future, MCI-EFI survey respondent Aylin Cankardes, president, Rockwell Financial Group, said, “We are starting to see pent-up demand for goods and services leading to expanded capital budgets for equipment to produce it and transportation to deliver it. With favorable interest rates, businesses are increasing spending again to stay responsive in a rapidly evolving environment.”

Key insights from April’s MCI-EFI include:
 
•  When asked to assess their business conditions over the next four months, 73.3% of executives responding said they believe business conditions will improve over the next four months, up from 50% in March. 23.3% believe business conditions will remain the same over the next four months, down from 46.4% the previous month. 3.3% believe business conditions will worsen, unchanged from March.

•  70% of the survey respondents believe demand for leases and loans to fund capital expenditures (capex) will increase over the next four months, up from 42.9% in March. 30% believe demand will “remain the same” during the same four-month time period, a decrease from 53.6% the previous month. None believe demand will decline, down from 3.6% in March.

•  43.3% of the respondents expect more access to capital to fund equipment acquisitions over the next four months, up from 28.6% in March. 56.7% of executives indicate they expect the “same” access to capital to fund business, a decrease from 71.4% last month. None expect “less” access to capital, unchanged from the previous month.

•  When asked, 43.3% of the executives report they expect to hire more employees over the next four months, up from 42.9% in March. 56.7% expect no change in headcount over the next four months, a decrease from 57.1% last month. None expect to hire fewer employees, unchanged from March.

•  13.3% of the leadership evaluate the current U.S. economy as “excellent,” an increase from 3.6% the previous month. 80% of the leadership evaluate the current U.S. economy as “fair,” up from 78.6% in March. 6.7% evaluate it as “poor,” down from 17.9% last month.

•  73.3% of the survey respondents believe that U.S. economic conditions will get “better” over the next six months, an increase from 60.7% in March. 23.3% indicate they believe the U.S. economy will “stay the same” over the next six months, a decrease from 32.1% last month. 3.3% believe economic conditions in the U.S. will worsen over the next six months, down from 7.1% the previous month.