All articles by Fred Crawley
Fred Crawley
Hireco benefits from trailer market crash
As the European truck trailer market grinds to a virtual halt and some new trailer prices crash to figures lower than the cost of building, some leasing companies have managed to turn a surprising profit. A representative of trailer lessor Hireco, which provides short term rental as well as contract hire, said: “Hireco is doing very well and winning more business as the recession continues.
Westebbe celebrates career in German leasing
Friedhelm Westebbe celebrated his retirement from the German Leasing Association (BDL) with friends and colleagues at Leaseuropes annual conference in Prague this month, after nearly thirty years in the German financial services sector. A former head of the leasing company LGS Sparkasse GmbH, and subsequently a board member at Deutsche Leasing, Westebbe joined BDL as chief executive in 2002.
Romanian operating lessors seek own association
Romania, already possessed of two leasing associations, may soon find itself gifted with a third comprising the countrys operating leasing specialists. The Eastern European economy currently has a brace of trade bodies: the Association of Leasing Companies in Romania (ASRL), and the Association of Financial Companies (ALB) ALB currently includes consumer lenders and financial leasing companies alongside its operating lessor members.
Czech bankruptcies continue to climb
Some 969 Czech companies were declared bankrupt in the first three quarters of 2009, 54 percent more than in the corresponding period of 2008, say statistics from the Czech Credit Bureau. In Q3, a total of 343 companies were declared bankrupt, demonstrating a year-on-year increase of nearly 77 percent on the year
Spring to bring further business failures for Latvian haulage
Despite hopes that Baltic transport markets would begin to improve at the tail end of this year, Latvias international trucking association has stated that improvement is only likely to come after a low point in 2010s first quarter Valdis Trezins, head of the Latvijas Auto association of international road freight firms, said that the beginning of the year always a low point for cargo volumes was likely to be particularly grim in 2010 As a result, Trezins predicted a wave of Latvian trucking bankruptcies in the spring, as firms fail to meet truck leasing costs
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ING to shed Czech and Slovak jobs
Leasing jobs at ING’s Czech and Slovak subsidiaries may be under threat, as the Dutch bank has announced that some 280 roles – nearly forty percent of its workforce in those regions – will be cut before the end of 2010.
ELFA reports further business decline for August
The American Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) has published its latest Monthly Leasing and Finance Index (MLFI), showing that the USAs $650 billion (445 billion) equipment finance sector saw business 35 percent down year-on-year for the month of August.
Death by a thousand cuts
What will happen to lender-broker relationships following Lombard and Hitachi Caps decisions to axe broker relationships? Fred Crawley reports.
Microlease acquires competitor
Microlease, the test equipment lessor that was backed in August by 9.8 million of investment from Lloyds Banking Group susidiary LDC, has made its first acquisition.
Norton Folgate looks to take business to the high seas
Robert Keep, who bought his brokerage Norton Folgate back from General Capital in March of this year, is one of the few leasing executives openly planning business growth for 2010 and one branch of this strategy is an entry into the lower end of the marine finance market.