Equipment finance confidence eases in February

The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation (the Foundation) released its February 2022 Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry (MCI-EFI) today. The index reports a qualitative assessment of both the prevailing business conditions and expectations for the future as reported by key executives from the $900 billion equipment finance sector. Overall, confidence in the equipment finance market is 61.8, easing from the January index of 63.9.

When asked about the outlook for the future, MCI-EFI survey respondent James D. Jenks, CEO, Global Finance and Leasing Services, LLC, said “the equipment finance industry is solid right now. With inflation we will experience increases in the cost of money. With the increase in the cost of money, we will experience a slowdown in the economy and delinquencies will increase.”

• When asked to assess their business conditions over the next four months, 24.1% of executives responding said they believe business conditions will improve over the next four months, a decrease from 25.9% in January. 69% believe business conditions will remain the same over the next four months, down from 70.4% the previous month. 6.9% believe business conditions will worsen, an increase from 3.7% in January.
• 24.1% of the survey respondents believe demand for leases and loans to fund capital expenditures (capex) will increase over the next four months, down from 25.9% in January. 72.4% believe demand will “remain the same” during the same four-month time period, an increase from 70.4% the previous month. 3.5% believe demand will decline, unchanged from January.
• 17.2% of the respondents expect more access to capital to fund equipment acquisitions over the next four months, down from 21.4% in January. 82.8% of executives indicate they expect the “same” access to capital to fund business, an increase from 78.6% last month. None expect “less” access to capital, unchanged from the previous month. 
• When asked, 44.8% of the executives report they expect to hire more employees over the next four months, up from 39.3% in January. 55.2% expect no change in headcount over the next four months, a decrease from 60.7% last month. None expect to hire fewer employees, unchanged from January.
• 10.3% of the leadership evaluate the current U.S. economy as “excellent,” a decrease from 14.8% the previous month. 86.2% of the leadership evaluate the current U.S. economy as “fair,” up from 81.5% in January. 3.5% evaluate it as “poor,” unchanged from last month.
• 24.1% of the survey respondents believe that U.S. economic conditions will get “better” over the next six months, a decrease from 29.6% in January. 58.6% indicate they believe the U.S. economy will “stay the same” over the next six months, a decrease from 63% last month. 17.2% believe economic conditions in the U.S. will worsen over the next six months, an increase from 7.4% the previous month.