The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation (the Foundation) releases the January 2018 Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry (MCI-EFI). 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 $1 trillion equipment finance sector. Overall, confidence in the equipment finance market is 75.3 in January, an increase from 69.4 in December, and reportedly the highest level since the index was launched in 2009.
January 2018 survey results include:
• When asked to assess their business conditions over the next four months, 67.7% of executives responding say they believe business conditions will improve over the next four months, an increase from 32.1% in December. 29.0% of respondents believe business conditions will remain the same over the next four months, a decrease from 67.9% the previous month. 3.2% believe business conditions will worsen, up from none who believed so the previous month.
• 67.7% of survey respondents believe demand for leases and loans to fund capital expenditures (capex) will increase over the next four months, an increase from 46.4% in December. 29.0% believe demand will “remain the same” during the same four-month time period, down from 53.6% the previous month. 3.2% believe demand will decline, an increase from none who believed so in December.
• 35.5% of the respondents expect more access to capital to fund equipment acquisitions over the next four months, up from 25.0% in December. 61.3% of executives indicate they expect the “same” access to capital to fund business, a decrease from 67.9% last month. 3.2% expect “less” access to capital, down from 7.1% last month.
• When asked, 41.9% of the executives report they expect to hire more employees over the next four months, a decrease from 53.6% in December. 54.8% expect no change in headcount over the next four months, an increase from 46.4% last month. 3.2% expect to hire fewer employees, an increase from none in December.
For more information, visit: www.leasefoundation.org
