After a brief hiatus, the ELA is once again releasing data from its Monthly Leasing Index. New participants have been added to this monthly survey of equipment leasing activity and performance, comprising the ELA MLI-25.

This month's index provides data for the period January through April 2006. Here forward, each data set will provide metrics reflecting the prior month's activity as reported by the twenty-five participating companies.

In January, respondents reported $4.4 billion in new business volume for equipment leases and loans originated during the period. New business in February declined to $3.6 billion, a drop of 18%. New business volume for March climbed to $6.3 billion, an increase of 75%. This rise is attributed to the typical end-of-quarter sales surge. For April new business originated was $5.6 billion.

Portfolio quality for the first four months of 2006 remained stable with delinquencies remaining fairly constant. Charge-offs as a percentage of net receivables also remained stable during this period. From January through April, charge-offs remained at or near 0.40%. In February, charge-offs fell to 0.36% and rose to 0.41% in March before dropping back to 0.39% for April.

Credit approval ratios averaged between 81% and 83% for the period. The total number of employees for January was 10,476. For February through April, the total number of employees continued to rise: 10,497 in February; 10,536 in March; and 10,630 in April. The January through April total headcount represents a 1.4% increase.

Because the same companies participate in the survey each month, the MLI provides a fairly reliable and consistent trend analysis of current industry activity. Results of each MLI-25 are posted on the ELA website and Equipment Leasing Today magazine.

This MLI-25 is conducted monthly by the ELA, which provides a variety of studies, reports, and market analyses covering the $220 billion equipment leasing and finance industry. To access this and other industry information, visit the ELA website at http://www.elfaonline.org/Ind/Research/ or contact Bill Choi, bchoi@elfaonline.org.

Participants in the ELA MLI-25:

• ADP Credit Corp.
• Amsouth Leasing Corp.
• Bank of America Leasing
• Bank of the West
• Canon Financial Services
• Caterpillar Financial Services
• CIT
• De Lage Landen
• First American Equipment Finance
• GreatAmerica Leasing Corporation
• Hitachi Credit America
• HP Financial Services
• Irwin Financial
• John Deere Credit Corp.
• Key Equipment Finance
• LaSalle National Leasing Corp.
• Marlin Leasing
• National City Commercial Corp.
• RBS Asset Finance
• Siemens Financial Services
• US Bancorp Leasing & Financial
• US Express Leasing
• Verizon Capital Corp/Verizon Credit
• Volvo Financial Services
• Wells Fargo Equipment Finance