US business equipment borrowings up 17% in April, ELFA says
22/05/2024 20:00
May 22 (Reuters) - U.S. companies borrowed 17% more to
finance equipment investments in April compared to a year ago,
industry body Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA)
said on Wednesday.
Companies signed up for new loans, leases and lines of
credit worth $11 billion in April, up 18% from a month ago.
"Originations had double-digit growth both year over year
and month to month, and credit quality is heading in a positive
direction with charge-offs and delinquencies both ticking down
last month," 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 April were 75%, down from
77% in March.
ELFA's non-profit affiliate, the Equipment Leasing & Finance
Foundation, said its confidence index for May stood at 50.7,
down from 52.9 in April. 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;))