Leasing has grown substantially – Kommersant

At the end of the first quarter of 2023, the leasing market showed a recovery, at least in terms of quantitative indicators: the volume of new business increased by 27%, to 131 thousand units of leased items. The industry will be supported by the segments of special equipment, trucks, industrial equipment and equipment for SMEs. Further development will be slowed down by problems with logistics and constantly changing working conditions with foreign suppliers.

In the first quarter, the volume of new business, expressed in the number of leased items, increased by 27%, to 131 thousand units (from 103 thousand units in the first quarter of 2022), follows from the data of the review of the NRA rating agency, which was reviewed by Kommersant . The largest growth in new business by type of leased asset was shown by: catering equipment (+158% yoy, yoy), HVAC and mechanical equipment (+121% yoy), special equipment (+49% yoy) and industrial equipment (+31% YoY). Previously, these segments grew at the general market rate.

However, in the second half of 2023, new business volumes could drop to 120,000 to 125,000 items per quarter due to a reduction in budgetary momentum, the NRA warns. “The expected increase in the key rate of the Central Bank to 8–8.5% will also have a negative impact. In annual terms, the increase in the volume of new business in 2023 will be 25–30%, ”the agency expects, which is higher than previous forecasts (see Kommersant dated January 25).

The recovery of the leasing industry will continue, although it will be uneven, experts and market participants agree. New segments of leasing will appear, government and social projects will support the growth. “Leasing companies focusing on special, construction machinery and equipment have the most prospects for systematic growth,” expects Suren Asaturov, Deputy Director of the ACRA Group of Financial Institutions Ratings. this segment were less related to unfriendly jurisdictions”. In addition, he said the challenges associated with import substitution and the growth of the defense industry have stimulated the leasing of industrial equipment, and active construction, including the construction of roads and infrastructure facilities, has fueled the demand for such equipment. Of the major segments of the market, support will be provided by the railway line, segments of trucks and special equipment, adds Maxim Kalinkin, CEO of the Gazprombank Leasing group. “According to the results of the first quarter of 2023, sales of trucks have already grown by 21%. Moreover, it should be noted that up to 80% of all new trucks are leased,” he says.

Import substitution in operating leasing and the formation of a new structure of operators and vehicles are ongoing; in financial leasing, the shares of Western companies are absorbed by national players, especially in the agricultural machinery segment, VTB notes. A significant contribution to the growth of the leasing market in 2023 will be made by the equipment leasing segment for SMEs, Mikhail Gonopolsky, managing director of the Insight investment group, is sure (see Kommersant on March 7). “We see an increase in demand for Chinese and Turkish production equipment,” says Elena Bannikova, regional director for the Central Federal District of Interleasing. However, in the segments that are in demand among SMEs, we should not talk about a global restructuring, but rather a change of focus, says Maria Gabunia, Marketing Director of Alfa Leasing Group.

“The challenge in 2023 remains the constantly changing conditions of work with suppliers of leased items and the logistics of foreign-made leased items, especially equipment,” says Mikhail Gonopolsky.

Polina Trifonova