Asset finance new business grew by 2% in April compared to the same month last year as the trend towards alternative finance among SMEs continues to grow. In the first four months of 2016, new business was 6% higher than in the same period in 2015.
Figures released by the Finance and Leasing Association (FLA) show the business equipment finance sector reported new business up by 5% in April compared with the same month in 2015, while commercial vehicle finance grew by 3% over the same period.
Commenting on the figures, FLA head of research and chief economist Geraldine Kilkelly said: “The asset finance market reported its thirty-first consecutive month of new business growth in April, with a particularly strong performance by the broker channel.
“The solid performance by the industry so far in 2016 meant that that the percentage of UK investment in machinery, equipment and purchased software funded by it increased to 31.8% in the twelve months to March 2016.”
