New leasing business in Italy grew by 4.8
percent to €27.4 billion last year, the latest figures from Italy’s
leasing association Assilea have shown. This is the first increase
after two years of falling investments. Renewable energy, public
sector leasing and vehicle finance were the main drivers for the
growth, although other segments fared less favourably.
Renewable energy leasing had a 300 percent
increase, from €890 million in 2009 to €3.5 billion booked for
2010. Half of the leasing investments were for photovoltaic
projects. Wind energy projects accounted for another 24 percent and
other types of renewables – mainly biomass and hydroelectric – for
the remainder.
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Without taking into account their renewable
energy component, real estate and equipment leasing continued to
decrease. Real estate leasing was 10.4 percent down to €8.9
billion, accounting for one third of overall new business volumes.
This reveals a shift from previous years, when real estate leasing
represented more than 50 percent of Italian lessors’ portfolios.
However, real estate in the public sector boomed, ending up 80
percent above 2009 figures.
Equipment finance remains the second largest
segment, accounting for almost 30 percent of the total. It had a
significant growth in the first half of the year due to government
incentives on equipment investments – which drove new business up
by 25 percent and 66 percent in May and June 2010 respectively,
just ahead of the end of the benefits on June 30. The contraction
in the second half of the year meant an overall 3.7 percent
decrease to €8 billion for the full year.
Vehicle leasing, accounting for 21 percent of
total new business, increased by 2 percent to €5.8 billion.
Commercial vehicles, in particular, grew by 4.5 percent. Car
leasing was 1.5 percent above 2009. Big ticket leasing – aircraft
and train operations – fell 16 percent to €1 billion.
UniCredit Leasing regained its top position on
Leasint, with a new business of €5.4 billion, 19.6 percent up
compared with 2009. Intesa Sanpaolo’s leasing business, including
Leasint, reached €4.9 billion, a 9.7 percent increase on 2009. Of
that figure, €1.3 billion went to renewable energy projects, making
Leasint the largest player in the renewable energy segment.
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By GlobalDataThe other three largest players were UBI
Banca-owned UBI Leasing with €1.9 billion, BNP Paribas Leasing
Solutions with €1.5 billion and Gruppo MPS Leasing e Factoring with
€1.4 billion. All of the top 10 lessors reported increases between
2.5 an 20 percent.
Despite the growth in renewable energy,
Assilea has warned that legislation to be introduced in the coming
months could hamper the segment’s future expansion. At the
beginning of March, the Italian government announced plans for a
new law which will progressively reduce state subsidies in solar
investments. Government officials have said that the new rules will
enable the increase in renewable energy in line with the EU
objectives, but are feared to slow down the sector. Annual caps are
due to be announced in June.
