The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation (the Foundation) releases the May 2021 Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry. The index reports a qualitative assessment of the prevailing business conditions and expectations for the future as reported by key executives from the $900 billion equipment finance sector. Overall, confidence in the equipment finance market is 72.1, easing from April’s all-time high of 76.1.
“While vaccine ‘herd immunity’ may be unachievable, warmer weather, immunity provided by previous infections and over 105 million Americans fully vaccinated will allow most economic activity to resume at pre-pandemic levels this summer,” says MCI-EFI survey respondent Bruce J. Winter, president, FSG Capital, Inc. “Business owners are much more optimistic and stimulus supported capital spending will likely reach unprecedented levels in the next 12 months. Prolonged inflation risk is a real concern as this untested experiment in rapidly expanding government debt will reach new highs.”
When asked to assess their business conditions over the next four months, 53.6% of executives responding said they believe business conditions will improve over the next four months, down from 73.3% in April. 46.4% believe business conditions will remain the same over the next four months, up from 23.3% the previous month. None believe business conditions will worsen, down from 3.3% in April.
53.6% of the survey respondents believe demand for leases and loans to fund capital expenditures (capex) will increase over the next four months, down from 70% in April. 46.4% believe demand will “remain the same” during the same four-month time period, an increase from 30% the previous month. None believe demand will decline, unchanged from April.
When asked, 39.3% of the executives report they expect to hire more employees over the next four months, down from 43.3% in April. 60.7% expect no change in headcount over the next four months, an increase from 56.7% last month. None expect to hire fewer employees, unchanged from April.
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