All articles by Jason T
Jason T
Turkish leasing industry is “rapidly melting away”
Bulent Tasar, the chairman of FIDER, the Turkish leasing association, has said that the Turkish leasing industry is rapidly melting away, having recorded a 74 percent loss in total transaction volumes in the first four months of 2009. Speaking at a conference in Ankara last week, Tasar, who is also managing director of Siemens Financial Services in Turkey, said that the economic crisis and recent tax increases on leasing have pushed the leasing sector to the brink of collapse.
Coping with the deluge
Jason T Hesse finds companies, currently dealing with a flood of customer insolvencies, may benefit from updating their asset recovery process Recent data from the Insolvency Service shows that nearly 5,000 companies went into liquidation in the first quarter in the UK, a jump of 56 percent from the same period last year, and a 7.1 percent rise on the fourth quarter of 2008. With one in every 130 active companies going into liquidation in the last 12 months, Pat Boyden at PricewaterhouseCoopers Business Recovery Services said he believes the trend will continue.
European lessors attend joint FLA Leaseurope conference in London
Lessors from across Europe attended the Putting Leasing on the Line forum, hosted jointly by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) and Leaseurope last week (May 22), to discuss the preliminary views on lease accounting that were published recently by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB).
Close Leasing completes £600k sale and leaseback deal with manufacturer
Sarantel, a manufacturer of filtering antennas for mobile and wireless devices, has completed a sale and leaseback of its fixed assets comprising all plant and machinery, test and computer equipment to Close Leasing. The total value of the sale and leaseback was £600,000 (698,000), with Sarantel realising net proceeds of £311,000 on the deal. The principle terms of the finance lease are a 36 month term at a monthly rental of approximately £20,000, the company said.
Hitachi Data Systems looking to launch leasing facility for channel
Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) is due to launch a leasing and finance facility for its channel partners next month, according to press reports. Trade magazine MicroScope reported that HDS channel offer will be aimed at mid-sized and large enterprise customers. As the economy takes a downturn, the requests from resellers for finance and leasing have really rocketed, said Stuart Abbott, regional financial solutions manager at HDS.
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Lombard signs £3 million Scottish coach deal
Lombard, the asset finance division of Royal Bank of Scotland, has agreed to a £3 million (3.5 million) financing deal with Moffat & Williamson, a Scottish coach operator, to renew its fleet. The Fife-based coach operator has launched a rolling programme of investment in its 63-strong fleet, made up of school buses, service vehicles and luxury coaches; and intends to acquire more vehicles.
IBM GF financing dynamic infrastructure
IBM Global Financing (IGF) has announced a new financing programme for businesses acquiring IBMs new line of dynamic infrastructure products and services.
Regenesis Group to delist from AIM
Specialist short-term asset finance provider Regenesis Group (AIM: RGN) is considering delisting from AIM, after posting a pre-tax loss of £121,000 (136,000) in the year ending December 31 2008.
Grenkeleasing reports solid Q1 results
Grenkeleasing has recorded pre-tax earnings of 10.2 million in the first quarter of 2009, a slight dip from the 11.2 million it achieved the previous year. The German lessors acquisition of the Hamburg-based private bank Hesse Newman & Co AG last quarter had no substantial impact on its operating income, the company said, which fell only 600,000 year-on-year, to 22.8 million in the first quarter.
BMW FS trying to secure banking license
In an attempt to get more favourable access to capital from the German central bank, luxury vehicle manufacturer BMW is looking to secure a banking license for its financial arm, sources said. The sources, close to the company, told German business daily Handelsblatt that a partnership with the banking arm of Daimler has already been rejected, adding that there were no further plans for cooperation with other banks.