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U.S. business equipment borrowings grow 9% in December – ELFA

By:
Reuters
Published: Jan 25, 2023, 11:52 UTC

(This Jan. 24 story has been corrected to say cumulative borrowings were up, not borrowings, in the second paragraph)

A worker sits at his desk in an office building in Washington

(This Jan. 24 story has been corrected to say cumulative borrowings were up, not borrowings, in the second paragraph)

(Reuters) – U.S. companies borrowed 9% more in December to finance equipment investments compared with a year earlier, industry body Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) said on Tuesday.

The companies signed up for $12.9 billion in new loans, leases and lines of credit last month, compared with $11.8 billion a year earlier, according to ELFA. Cumulative borrowings were up 6% from January 2022.

ELFA, which reports economic activity for the $1 trillion equipment finance sector, said credit approvals totaled 76.6% in December, down from 77.7% in November.

“Not knowing yet the full impact of the Fed’s series of rapid rate increases on the economy, I believe many companies will start the year with more focus on credit quality and spreads versus origination volume,” said AP Equipment Financing’s president, Chris Lerma.

Washington-based ELFA’s leasing and finance index measures the volume of commercial equipment financed in the United States.

The index is based on a survey of 25 members, including Bank of America Corp, and financing affiliates or units of Caterpillar Inc, Dell Technologies Inc, Siemens AG, Canon Inc and Volvo AB.

The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation, ELFA’s non-profit affiliate, said its confidence index in January stood at 48.5, an increase from 45.9 in December. A reading above 50 indicates a positive business outlook.

(Reporting by Priyamvada C in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)

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