Confidence in the equipment finance market is 66.1, an increase from the December index of 63.4 and the highest level in the last three years, according to the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation.
When asked about the outlook for the future, MCI-EFI survey respondent Thomas Jaschik, President, BB&T Equipment Finance, said, “With third quarter GDP in excess of 5 percent, the economy is primed for a surge in capital equipment spending. I believe domestic companies now have the confidence to make substantial investments in plant and equipment to facilitate growth. This could lead to a record year for equipment finance in 2015.”
January 2015 Survey Results:
• When asked to assess their business conditions over the next four months, 23.3% of executives responding said they believe business conditions will improve over the next four months, down from 28% in December. 76.7% of respondents believe business conditions will remain the same over the next four months, up from 72% in December. None believe business conditions will worsen, unchanged from the previous month.
• 20% of survey respondents believe demand for leases and loans to fund capital expenditures (capex) will increase over the next four months, down from 22% in December. 80% believe demand will “remain the same” during the same four-month time period, up from 72% the previous month. None believe demand will decline, down from 6.3% in December.
• 33.3% of executives expect more access to capital to fund equipment acquisitions over the next four months, up from 22% in December. 66.7% of survey respondents indicate they expect the “same” access to capital to fund business, down from 78% in December. None expect “less” access to capital, unchanged from the previous month.
• When asked, 50% of the executives reported they expect to hire more employees over the next four months, an increase from 43.8% in December. 50% expect no change in headcount over the next four months, unchanged from last month. None expect fewer employees, down from 6.3% in December.
• 3% of the leadership evaluate the current U.S. economy as “excellent,” unchanged from last month. 97% of the leadership evaluate the current U.S. economy as “fair,” and none rate it as “poor,” both also unchanged from December.
• 43.3% of the survey respondents believe that U.S. economic conditions will get “better” over the next six months, a decrease from 47% who believed so in December. 56.7% of survey respondents indicate they believe the U.S. economy will “stay the same” over the next six months, up from 53% in December. None believe economic conditions in the U.S. will worsen over the next six months, unchanged from last month.
• In January, 50% of respondents indicate they believe their company will increase spending on business development activities during the next six months, an increase from 37.5% in December. 50% believe there will be “no change” in business development spending, a decrease from 62.5% last month. None believe there will be a decrease in spending, unchanged from last month.