Equipment Leasing and Finance Industry Confidence Remains at Two-Year High | Industry News

The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation has released the Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry (MCI-EFI) for May 2014; overall, confidence in the equipment finance market is 65.4, relatively unchanged from 65.1 last month, peaking at the highest index level in two years for the third consecutive month. 

May 2014 survey results:

The overall MCI-EFI is 65.4, relatively unchanged from the April index.

• When asked to assess their business conditions over the next four months, 31.4% of executives responding said they believe business conditions will improve over the next four months, down from 37% in April.  68.6% of respondents believe business conditions will remain the same over the next four months, up from 60% in April.  No one believes business conditions will worsen, down from 2.9% the previous month.

• 34.3% of survey respondents believe demand for leases and loans to fund capital expenditures (capex) will increase over the next four months, down from 37% in April.  65.7% believe demand will “remain the same” during the same four-month time period, up from 60% the previous month.  No one believes demand will decline, down from 2.9% who believed so in April.

• 28.6% of executives expect more access to capital to fund equipment acquisitions over the next four months, unchanged from April. 71.4% of survey respondents indicate they expect the “same” access to capital to fund business, and no one expects “less” access to capital, also both unchanged from the previous month.

• When asked, 40% of the executives reported they expect to hire more employees over the next four months, an increase from 37% in April.  51.4% expect no change in headcount over the next four months, down from 60% last month.  8.6% expect fewer employees, up from 2.9% who expected fewer employees in April.

• 2.9% of the leadership evaluates the current U.S. economy as “excellent,” 91.4% of the leadership evaluates the current U.S. economy as “fair,” and  5.7% rate it as “poor,” all unchanged from April.

• 37% of the survey respondents believe that U.S. economic conditions will get “better” over the next six months, an increase from 34.3% who believed so in April.  62.9% of survey respondents indicate they believe the U.S. economy will “stay the same” over the next six months, unchanged from April.  No one believes economic conditions in the U.S. will worsen over the next six months, a decrease from 2.9% who believed so last month.

• In May, 45.7% of respondents indicate they believe their company will increase spending on business development activities during the next six months, an increase from 40% in April.  54.3% believe there will be “no change” in business development spending, a decrease from 60% last month.  No one believes there will be a decrease in spending, unchanged from last month.