The Amstel Lease brand is to disappear from
the market to be replaced by ABN Amro Lease as the lessor takes its
parent bank’s name.
The move reflects a strategy to grow leasing
business with ABN Amro’s corporate banking customer base, and
echoes similar steps among other bank owned lessors.
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ABN Amro has 350,000 business customers in the
Netherlands, of which 80,000 to 100,000 are considered potential
leasing clients.
The bank gained clients when it merged with
Fortis Bank in 2008, and lost some on selling a portion of its
commercial banking to Deutsche Bank in 2009.
Robert Peterson, director of strategy and
innovation, said the name change was “not an integration; not a
move towards more integration”.
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By GlobalData“This strengthens our position.” The sales,
credit, and IT departments will be unchanged. “That kind of
integration is okay. It will contribute to the development of our
business,” he said.
“We expect this to make it easier for the
bank’s customer relationship manager to introduce leasing products
to clients. And it will be easier, using the ABN Amro brand name,
for our leasing sales people.”
The lessor has a three pronged growth strategy
for the next three years, in line with ABN Amro’s plans. It aims to
increase lease penetration with ABN Amro’s corporate clients; to
grow business with non-bank customers; and to target new European
markets, other than Belgium, Germany and the UK where it already
has a presence.
New business is budgeted at €1bn for 2010,
against €860m in 2009, and €1.2bn in 2008.
“We are on our way back. We make much higher
returns than banks make in the Netherlands on loan contracts.
Margins are up this year and were up last year, and are now
stabilising. If we keep these levels we have a sustainable
business.”
The leasing company is based in Utrecht, “a
long way” from ABN Amro’s base in Amsterdam. “We are independent,
governed by a supervisory board that meets four times a year. We a
satisfied that this will not result in integration.”
The company funds 360 different assets and
will serve all segments of the bank’s client base. “We focus on the
corporate and higher end; but if we want to grow of course that
will mean being in smaller deals.”
