Jason T Hesse speaks with Jean-Marc Mignerey and Cécile
André about what 2010 holds for Europe’s biggest equipment finance
company
Jean-Marc Mignerey, SG Equipment
Finance’s (SGEF) CEO, sees three growth engines for his business in
the future: the US, Brazil and China.
Go deeper with GlobalData
“Our rationale is our international vendors –
we offer them one of the most complete networks that enables us to
accompany them throughout the world,” he explains.
Although SGEF is a fairly new entrant into the
US market, having set up its business there at the end of 2007, it
is already ranked 59th in terms of new business volume (NBV) – a
strong result, with $213.6 million (€143.8 million) of NBV last
year.
“We wanted to grow our equipment and vendor
finance business until we become a European leader with worldwide
presence – we’re not too far from our aim,” Mignerey says.
In terms of equipment finance specifically,
SGEF is already ranked number one by Leaseurope, with €10.3 billion
NBV in 2008, although BNP Paribas Lease Group’s merger with Fortis
Lease will likely change this in 2010.
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.
Thank you!
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form
By GlobalData“At the end of the day, we don’t write volume
for volume’s sake. Next year we will focus even more on
profitability rather than volume. Profitability is more important
to us, despite our continued growth,” Cécile André, SGEF’s deputy
CEO, adds.
Mignerey adds: “We have never focused on
volumes, but on profit.”
2010 will certainly be an important year for
SGEF, as it continues to focus on a range of sectors across Europe.
André points to the hi-tech and agricultural sectors in particular,
which have bucked recessionary trends: “We managed to grow our
agricultural business in a number of countries, particularly in the
CEE region, but also in more mature markets such as the UK and
Germany.”
Mignerey believes 2010 will bring the start of
the end of the recession.
“It will take years before we regain the
volumes of pre-recession, but I believe that in the course of 2010
we should see a return to ‘normal’. The industry’s biggest problems
will be behind it during 2010,” he says.
One of SGEF’s benefits, he says, is to be part
of a large bank, Société Générale. He believes this has given SGEF
a level of continuity for its funding lines which customers have
recognised.
“Vendors are looking for ‘safe’, reliable
partners – many have been affected by a lack of funding by their
financing partners, so we’ve seen strong demand for our services
this year. We’ve benefited from the attention of customers looking
for security, and have launched a number of new international
vendor operations in 2009,” Mignerey says.
The vendor channel is very important for SGEF,
making up 39 percent of business, followed by the direct channel
(30 percent), banking network (27 percent) and intermediaries (4
percent).
In order to manage the business more
efficiently, André spearheaded the overhaul of SGEF’s management
information system, bringing it in line with Basel II
requirements.
“We’ve improved our in-house management
information system and installed a new customer relationship
management system. In addition, we are refining our business line
application lifecycle management by setting up a new common
treasury/ALM system. This is giving us the necessary tools to meet
Basel II requirements,” she explains.
André believes that with the right tools in
place, SGEF is now in a position to scale up the business across
Europe and internationally, working closely with Société
Générale.
“We do need the bank for support – we are well
integrated into the bank, and this has given us a centralised,
global and well-supported organisation to meet the challenges of
2010,” she says.
SG Equipment Finance’s leaders
Jean-Marc Mignerey – CEO
Mignerey started his career in the
banking sector in 1976, before joining the specialised financial
services department of Société Générale in 1982.
In 1989, when SG merged all of its
subsidiaries specialising in consumer and business finance, he set
up the vendor finance business.
In 2001, after SG acquired Deutsche Bank’s
financial services, Mignerey was named MD of GEFA (SG Equipment
Finance Germany) before becoming CEO of the newly-created SG
Equipment Finance.
Mignerey has been a board member of Leaseurope
since 2002, was vice-chairman and then chairman of Leaseurope until
October 2007. He remains on the board today.
Cécile André – deputy
CEO
After graduating from HEC in Paris
and getting her MBA from Wharton, André started her career as a
consultant at Bain & Company and moved to McKinsey &
Company in Asia.
In 2000, André joined Société Générale as
deputy strategic management director, where she looked after the
acquisition of Deutsche Bank’s financial services in 2001 and then
Elcon in 2004. After working for SG’s investment bank arm, André
finally joined SG Equipment Finance as deputy CEO at the start of
2009.
Latest
results
In the third quarter, SG Equipment
Finance experienced a slowdown in activity, seeing new financing
fall by 19 percent year-on-year, to €1.7 billion.
According to the French lessor, the slowdown
concerned most of the regional operations. In Germany and Italy –
two of SG Equipment Finance’s key markets – new financing fell by
23.2 percent and 32.4 percent respectively.
However, in France the lessor only experienced
a small decline of 1.6 percent, which “testifies to the group’s
constant commitment to support the French economy”, it said.
At €19.1 billion at the end of September 2009,
outstanding loans – excluding factoring – continued to grow, by 3.6
percent, against the same period last year.
