NOTEBOOK: The Good, And The Bad

Confidence among executives in the equipment finance market remain relatively unchanged from May, with executives reporting major concerns related to interest rates, uncertainties related to Fed action or inaction, as well as the continuing war in Ukraine as weighing heavily on the economy.

However, when asked to assess their business conditions over the next four months, 11.1% of respondents -- a wide cross-section of industry executives from banks, independents, and captive equipment finance companies -- believe business conditions will improve over the next four months, an increase from 6.9% in May. 55.6% believe business conditions will remain the same over the next four months, down from 62.1% the previous month. 33.3% believe business conditions will worsen, an increase from 31% in May.

Here are some other findings you might find interesting:

• 11.1% of the survey respondents believe demand for leases and loans to fund capital expenditures (capex) will increase over the next four months, up from 10.3% in May. 66.7% believe demand will “remain the same” during the same four-month time period, an increase from 65.5% the previous month. 22.2% believe demand will decline, down from 24.1% in May.
• 22.2% of the respondents expect more access to capital to fund equipment acquisitions over the next four months, up from 13.8% in May. 77.8% of executives indicate they expect the “same” access to capital to fund business, a decrease from 86.2% last month. None expect “less” access to capital, unchanged from the previous month.
• When asked, 29.6% of the executives report they expect to hire more employees over the next four months, down from 48.3% in May. 66.7% expect no change in headcount over the next four months, an increase from 44.8% last month. 3.7% expect to hire fewer employees, down from 6.9% in May.
• 7.4% of the leadership evaluate the current U.S. economy as “excellent,” an increase from 3.5% the previous month. 74.1% of the leadership evaluate the current U.S. economy as “fair,” down from 79.3% in May. 18.5% evaluate it as “poor,” an increase from 17.2% last month.
• 7.4% of the survey respondents believe that U.S. economic conditions will get “better” over the next six months, an increase from 3.5% in May. 37% indicate they believe the U.S. economy will “stay the same” over the next six months, an increase from 27.6% last month. 55.6% believe economic conditions in the U.S. will worsen over the next six months, a decrease from 69% the previous month.
• In June 40.7% of respondents indicate they believe their company will increase spending on business development activities during the next six months, up from 34.5% the previous month. 59.3% believe there will be “no change” in business development spending, down from 65.5% in May. None believe there will be a decrease in spending, unchanged from last month.

Mike Zawacki is editor of Snow Magazine.