UK asset finance saw a dip during September but grew marginally in the third quarter of this year, up 2% on 2011 to £5.1bn (€), according to the latest figures from the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA).

At £1.9bn, new business in September was down 2% year-on-year but up 26% consecutively on the £1.47bn reported for August.

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Broker-introduced business for the month grew 3% year-on-year to £29m while sales finance up 4% to £562m over the same period.
Both channels experienced year-on-year growth for the quarter although direct finance contracted 3% compared to 2011.

The quarter also saw new business in plant and machinery up 8% and IT equipment finance up by 11% compared to last year.

The same sectors saw small decreases in monthly business for September as did business equipment and passenger car finance.

The commercial vehicles sector increased monthly business on the 2011 levels, up 6% to £471m, while big-ticket assets of aircraft, ships and rolling stock saw around three-fold year-on-year monthly and quarterly growth to £63m and £190m, respectively.

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Total new business for the 12 months to the end of September was up 15% on the previous period to £20.6bn.

Julian Rose, head of Asset Finance at the FLA, said: "Despite a modest decrease in new business in September compared to the same month in 2011, FLA members supported business investment of £5.4 billion in the third quarter of 2012, up 4% on the previous year.

"The Government has a role to play in helping the sector sustain its major economic contribution, by allowing more asset finance businesses access to the Government’s schemes to support business lending, including Funding for Lending and the Business Finance Partnership."