Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) members sold £1,876m (€2,531m) worth of asset finance in August 2015, up 5% compared to the same month in 2014.

The IT equipment finance sector reported strong growth in new business, up 81% compared with August 2014 to £143m.

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Commercial vehicle finance increased by 15% year-on-year to £440m, while business equipment finance rose by 8% to £150m.

The aircraft, ships and rolling stock finance sector recorded an increase of 119% compared to August 2014, reaching £28m.

On the other hand, car finance shrunk by 12% year-on-year to £498m. A negative year-on-year trend on new business was also observed in plant and machinery finance, which fell by 1% to £421m.

Following revisions to official business investment data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the percentage of UK investment in machinery, equipment and purchased software financed by the asset finance industry was revised upwards to 32% in the twelve months to June 2015.

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Geraldine Kilkelly, head of research and chief economist at the FLA, said: "The revised ONS business investment figures show that the industry’s contribution to the funding of investment is much greater than previous data suggested. The percentage of UK investment in machinery, equipment and software has grown from a low of just over a quarter in 2010 to almost a third in the year to June 2015."

By channel and product

Direct finance, which accounted for more than half of all finance, shrank by 1%. This was offset by a growth in broker introduced finance (up 2%) and sales finance (up 8%).

Lease/hire purchase, by far the most popular product in asset finance, grew by 5% to £1,019m. Finance leasing grew 7% to be worth £227m, and operating leasing grew 13% to £441m.