US business equipment borrowings up 11% in May, ELFA says
25/06/2024 20:00
June 25 (Reuters) - U.S. companies borrowed 11% more to
finance equipment investments in May compared to a year ago,
industry body Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA)
said on Tuesday.
Companies signed up for new loans, leases and lines of
credit worth $10.2 billion in May, down 7% from a month ago.
"The drop in volume from April could be an indication that
some businesses are holding off on acquiring equipment until
interest rates come down," ELFA President and CEO Leigh Lytle
said.
The Washington-based company, which reports economic
activity for the over $1-trillion equipment finance sector, said
credit approvals for U.S. companies in May were 75%, unchanged
from April.
ELFA's non-profit affiliate, the Equipment Leasing & Finance
Foundation, said its confidence index for June stood at 50.2,
down from 50.7 in May. A reading above 50 indicates a positive
business outlook.
ELFA's leasing and finance index is based on a 25-member
survey, including Bank of America BAC.N and financing units of
Caterpillar CAT.N , Dell Technologies DELL.N , Siemens AG
SIEGn.DE , Canon Inc 7751.T and Volvo AB VOLVb.ST .
(Reporting by Abhinav Parmar in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim
Zahid)
((Abhinav.Parmar@thomsonreuters.com;))