Monday, October 29, 2007
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
46th Annual ELFA Convention Underway
ORLANDO--The ELFA Annual Convention began Sunday evening as more than 1,000
attendees gathered for the opening reception among the 40 service provider
exhibits. The mood was upbeat and the networking was fast and furious, as
people caught up or started new relationships.
This morning,
ELFA Chair Valerie Jester listed the reasons attendees have to have to be
upbeat. "We have sufficient demand, good liquidity and great credit
quality," Jester said in her opening address. She also sited the industry's
growth, noting that ELFA's 2007 Survey of Industry Activity shows that new
business volume grew 11.8% between 2005 and 2006.
Jester's
bullishness was echoed to a large degree in this morning's Small Ticket
Business Council breakfast meeting. Attendees were given hand-held voting
devices that enabled facilitators to survey the room and immediately show
results on a screen. When asked if they expected their companies' 2007 new
business volume to grow or decline compared to last year, 79% said it would
grow. Fifty-five percent expect growth in Q4 this year, while 39% expect
volume to remain stable through the end of the year.
And
although here and there attendees admit to seeing a fall-off in their
businesses of late, and the sub-prime meltdown and housing slump crunched
liquidity for a while, nobody seems overly concerned. In fact, one attendee
said liquidity has been flooding back into the market over the last couple
of months.
Watch for Convention updates in E-news Daily and
check for Convention photos online at
http://www.elfaonline.org/pub/events/2007/AC/pics.cfm
sponsored by
SG Equipment Finance Expands Into U.S.
Market
PR Newswire (10/26/07)
SG Equipment
Finance of Paris announced the rollout of SG Equipment Finance USA on Oct.
26, which will be helmed by former head of Societe Generale Corporate &
Investment Banking's Coverage group for the Americas Philippe Mathe. The
new company's chief information officer will be Tony Coscia, formerly of
CIT, where he supported divisions that offer leasing and financial services
for companies in varied industries. Another former CIT executive, Larry
Scherzer, has assumed the position of head of sales and marketing. IDB
Leasing veteran Richard Scannell will serve as SG Equipment Finance USA's
controller, while head of risk and operations will be Juergen Jonczyk,
previously executive vice president of credit and operations for CG
Commercial Funding. "With these latest additions to our group, our senior
management team is now in place," declared Mathe. "The SG Equipment
Finance USA team is looking to tap into the largest equipment finance
market in the world by supporting key SG Equipment Finance International
vendors in the transportation and industrial equipment industries, serving
its largest U.S. vendors in the high tech sector and putting its balance
sheet at the service of the Bank's corporate customers." SG Equipment
Finance will be complementary to the group's Specialized Financial Services
presence in the United States, which includes consumer finance activity
with CGI and fleet management activity and operational car leasing with ALD
Automotive.
(Link to
Source/Publication) |
Navistar
Restates 2 Years' Results
Chicago Tribune (10/26/07) ;
Miller, James P.
Navistar has issued restated financial results for
2003 and 2004, and earnings were precipitously lower due to close to $2
billion in accounting and tax-related charges. Meanwhile, Navistar
announced that it is in discussions to obtain General Motors' medium truck
operation, which would involve the manufacture of those vehicles at
Navistar's existing medium-truck plants. The trucks would boast GM
nameplates, but Navistar would get the revenue and profit from the sales,
and the company said it would be able to more effectively leverage
production capacity at its medium-truck facilities and reduce unit
costs.
(Link to
Source/Publication) |
What Kind
of Caution by the Fed This Time?
New York Times
(10/29/07) P. C1 ; Andrews, Edmund L.
This week, the Commerce
Department is expected to report that the U.S. economy grew by at least 3
percent in the third quarter, which would meet what economists deem the
country's natural growth rate. With the exception of the worsening
problems in the residential property market, much of the economy has shown
little need for a boost from cheaper loans. Still, investors expect the
Federal Reserve to lower the benchmark federal funds rate to 4.5 percent
later this week as a preventive measure to head off a more serious
downturn. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has reiterated on several occasions
that declining home prices, coupled with other problems such as tightening
credit markets and rising oil prices, could undermine other parts of the
economy, warranting stronger action by the Fed. |
Blackstone's PHH Deal Loses Appeal
Financial Times (10/28/07) ; Sender, Henny
General Electric (GE)
and Blackstone Group were set to purchase PHH, with GE acquiring the
company's fleet lease operation and Blackstone the company's mortgage
operation, but Blackstone now appears poised to walk away from the
deal.
(Link to Source/Publication) |
Greenbrier
to Build GE Tank Cars
Traffic World (10/29/07) P. 28
Rail equipment provider Greenbrier has forged an agreement with GE
Rail Services to manufacture 11,900 tank cars and covered hoppers over an
eight-year period, and the tank cars will be fabricated at the
Greenbrier-GIMSA facility in Mexico. The plant will allow Greenbrier
"access to competitive tank car production," and sufficient space to boost
production in accordance with growing demand, stated Greenbrier President
William A. Furman. Greenbrier will initially build 30,000-gallon
non-insulated cars for transporting such cargo as ethanol and methanol, and
GE's VeriWise fleet management tracking system will be installed in the
vehicles during the assembly process. Greenbrier said the arrangement does
not lock in the complete order list now, but rather permits "flexibility in
car type mix to meet future market needs and fluctuations." Delivery
should commence in the third quarter of 2008, and the initial group of
3,400 cars should be delivered through the first six months of
2011. |
news summaries (c)
copyright 2007 Information,Inc.
Equipment Leasing and Finance is a $600 Billion
Business
ORLANDO--Today at the ELFA Convention, the Equipment Leasing & Finance
Foundation released "The U.S. Equipment Finance Market," a new study that
estimates the actual size of the equipment finance sector to be nearly $600
billion in 2006--nearly three times larger than previously thought.
The study, conducted by Global Insights, used data from a variety of
government and private sources. Prior estimates of industry size relied on
surveys of lenders, which yield an incomplete picture.
Commenting on the study, ELFA Chair Valerie Jester said, "In the past, this
sector has been a well-kept secret. Not anymore. These findings will change
the way we think and talk about our industry."
In addition to
analyzing the size and scope of the industry, the study breaks out the
equipment finance market by geography, equipment type and end-user
industry. A companion study examines customers '"Propensity to Finance" ,
discussing the characteristics of companies likely to finance their
equipment.
Both studies are available from the Foundation
website at
http://www.leasefoundation.org/
Could
Private Equity Save Large Ticket?
Orlando--In a Convention breakout session Monday
morning, panelists discussed the impact of private equity finance on the
equipment finance industry. Over the last four years, these funds have
become increasingly invested in the equipment finance market. "You see them
in large ticket and small ticket," said presenter Ed Grenville, "but not in
the middle market, because banks are so heavily invested in that space."
Because they must generate dividends, funds are very cash-driven and
selective about the assets they invest in.
In the large ticket
market, private equity funds are attracted to aircraft, rail and
marine/intermodal shipping containers: "assets with high utilization,
stable cash flow and long life," Grenville said. Their impact on large
ticket is mixed: clearly they increase liquidity in the market, but they
also increase competition and cause tighter pricing.
However,
on balance, their influence seems to be positive. Grenville said that they
create efficiencies, and they focus on returns from cash residuals, instead
of gain on sale accounting. Panelist John Dean agreed. "Not very long ago,
we were talking about how the large ticket market was dead, because it
relied on structures that, in retrospect, didn't stand the test of time,"
he said. "Now we're talking about something very positive and forward
thinking."
Look for more Convention reporting in the next
several issues of E-News Daily.
Are
you a new company entering a single market or a national Lessor with
multi-state issues?
If your answer is yes, then ELFA's Principles of State Sales and
Property Tax Workshop, scheduled November 12-13 at the Sears Tower's
Metropolitan Club in Chicago, will help you expand your understanding of
the issues necessary for efficient planning and compliance. Whether you
are a new company entering a single market or a national Lessor with
multi-state issues, this conference is a primary source of basic
information you need to keep abreast of the changing landscape of state
sales and property tax enforcement. Workshop instructors are seasoned
professionals from Deloitte's tax department.
For more
details on the program agenda, and registration information, please go
here:
www.elfaonline.org/pub/events/2007/PSSPT/
P.S. Attendees
of this workshop have the opportunity to earn CPE credits!
Online Credit Training for Leasing and Finance
specialists available now at the ELFA Academy!
These courses are designed to help credit
analysts increase their proficiency in assessing the credit-worthiness of
middle market business transactions.
- Financial Statement
Analysis: Students learn how to assess the historical financial risk of a
business, focusing on the most critical financial indicators grouped into
six key performance areas: size/sales growth, profitability, trading
activity, liquidity, capital structure, and cash flow.
-
Should You Do the Deal? Case Studies in Equipment Leasing and Finance:
Students choose from two case studies, depending on their level of
expertise and experience, and engage in interactive simulations of actual
credit analysis scenarios.
To enroll for class and start
learning right away, go to:
http://www.elfaonline.org/pub/events/elearning/
For more
information on the ELFA Academy and the Association's e-Learning
Initiative, contact Alexa Domeck, e-Learning Manager at 202.238.3416 or adomeck@elfaonline.org.
Republic Financial Acquires 42 North Structured
Finance
Republic Financial Corporation, Aurora, Colorado, has acquired the assets
and personnel of 42 North Structured Finance, Inc., Boston. 42 North is a
financial advisor and investor focused on complex asset-specific
opportunities in industrial and energy project finance. 42 North will
retain its name and Boston location, and operate as a division of Republic.
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