the industry showed significant growth in the volume of new business with freight transport in the first half of the year

In the first half of the year, the volumes of the new leasing business in the freight transport segment overtook those of passenger cars. Despite the rise in prices for equipment, business cannot refuse to renew its fleet of trucks. In addition, the demand for them is supported by the announced large infrastructure and construction projects. At the same time, competition among market participants is intensifying against the backdrop of a decrease in advance payments and lengthening of leasing terms.

According to the results of January-June, the leasing industry showed a significant increase in the volume of new business with freight transport. At VTB Leasing, freight and commercial vehicles accounted for half of the sales in the car leasing portfolio, while passenger cars accounted for only a third. The share of trucks in the portfolio of Gazprombank Leasing reached a record 26%. Passenger vehicles accounted for 16%. A year ago, the picture was different: passenger vehicles accounted for 18% of the company’s portfolio, and trucks – only 15%.

In Rosbank, the share of freight transport in new loans exceeded 60%, and that of passenger vehicles – about 20%. In the portfolio of SberLeasing, the share of trucks is 3.5 times higher than the share of passenger cars. The structure of the financed portfolio of Alfa-Leasing Group for the reporting period amounted to 74% of trucks versus 26% of cars.

The reorientation of demand began to occur as early as 2022, and trucks began to dominate the volume of new business, market participants note. “This is due to a shortage of passenger cars, an increase in demand for used equipment, and the fact that Russian and Chinese manufacturers were able to meet the needs of companies in trucks,” explains Maxim Kalinkin, CEO of Gazprombank Leasing. Not all entrepreneurs want to switch from familiar brands to new brands, so they are ready to postpone the replacement of a car in a situation of a certain shortage in the market, adds Andrey Getmanyuk, head of the business development department at VTB Leasing.

“The passenger car market is more dependent on cost growth, while for commercial companies this is an unpleasant but surmountable factor, since it is eventually transferred to the cost of the services they provide,” explains Guram Kudryavtsev, general director of Rosbank Leasing. “Customers do not postpone the purchase of trucks, since the functioning of the business depends on the availability of trucks,” agree in Europlan.

In addition to changing the structure of leasing portfolios in favor of the predominance of freight transport, the terms of leasing agreements are also being transformed, market participants say. In particular, lessors are going to reduce advance payments and increase the terms of contracts. If in the pre-crisis 2021 the average advance was about 20%, by now it has decreased to 7–8%. During the same time, the average vehicle leasing period has increased from 40 to 60 months, according to VTB Leasing.

“The advance payment in leasing trucks and cars in 2023 is 10-18% compared to 22% a year earlier. Leasing periods have lengthened from 36–42 months in 2022 to 38–48 months in 2023,” notes Vyacheslav Spirov, CEO of Sberbank Leasing. “Increasing the lease term allows minimizing the monthly payment, which creates a comfortable situation for the client in terms of the company’s income and expenses and, accordingly, contributes to the absence of defaults,” explains Andriy Getmanyuk. The competition for the client has also intensified, adds Guram Kudryavtsev – the advance payment starts from 0%, and the term stretches up to seven years.

At the same time, despite the measures taken to reduce the financial burden on lessees, there has been an increase in defaults since the beginning of the year. “It is advisable for leasing companies to lay higher credit risks on lessees, taking into account the tightening of monetary policy and the devaluation of the ruble,” warns Irina Lapko, director of ratings for financial companies at the NRA. After all, this “will affect companies with low financial stability, as well as leasing companies where there is a high concentration on lessees or a significant share of SMEs,” the expert believes.

Therefore, the conditions for some lines of business are now more conservative than they were at the beginning of 2022, market participants note. In particular, this applies to the segment “start-ups, start-ups, companies with no business experience,” says Vadim Danilov, head of the data analysis and decision-making center of Alfa-Leasing Group of Companies. Therefore, leasing companies are more selective in choosing the clients they are willing to finance, he adds.

Polina Trifonova