All articles by Charles Wheeldon

Charles Wheeldon

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Free books for Leasing Life subscribers

Fleet industry management consultant Professor Colin Tourick has recently published two books and is offering 10 free PDF versions to Leasing Life subscribers. Company Car and Van Tax 2011-12 aims to explain everything a fleet manager or company vehicle driver needs to know, including: car benefit tax, fuel benefit tax, VAT, income tax, corporation tax, capital allowances, fuel duty, vehicle excise duty and national insurance.

Companies

GE Capital provides £70m to Energy Alloys

Commercial finance provider GE Capital yesterday became the sole lender on a £70m asset-based lending facility for Energy Alloys LLC, to support the companys growth and working capital needs Based in Houston, Texas and Rotherham in the UK, Energy Alloys provides oil field metals and equipment to global oil and gas manufacturers and service companies It has domestic operations in the UK and international operations in the US, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Mexico, South Korea and Singapore

Companies

TMAT secures £1.6m in invoice & asset finance

Chesterfield manufacturer TMAT has secured a funding package from HSBC worth £1.6m to help increase its product development and global reach. Of the funding package, £1.25m is invoice financing and £350,000 is asset finance to purchase new factory equipment, of which £150,000 is being spent straight away, with the remaining £200,000 earmarked for investment in six months time. TMAT develops and produces high-tech bespoke insulation products, principally for high-specification agricultural and construction vehicles, to reduce noise and vibration and to control heat flows

Bank Asset Finance

Close’s profits boosted by strong banking division performance

Close Brothers Group has announced an operating profit of £131m (150.5m) for the year ending 31 July, up 13% on the same period a year before. Its performance was mainly boosted by a good showing from its banking division, which includes asset and motor finance, which increased its adjusted operating profit to £106m, a 34% rise on 2009-10 The asset management division, however, recorded an adjusted operating loss of £9m (10.3m) and its securities division delivered a reduced adjusted operating profit, down 8% to £55m.

Companies

New funding facility ends stagnation at P&C

Independent lender Private and Commercial Finance Group (P&C) has announced the end of a two-year period of stagnation, unveiling a full-year pre-tax profit of £455,336 and announcing a new funding facility. Its been hard going, especially for independents and for our competitors who have been driven out of business, but we have moved from a period of stagnation to one of growth, said managing director Robert Murray. Although P&Cs profits are 14% down on 2010s full year result of £528,361, Murray puts this down to the companys inability, until recently, to secure new funding – a situation which led to a 13% reduction in P&Cs book size.