Although the leasing industry reported good results in q4 last year, the total volume of financing in 2020 was 10.1% lower than in 2019. However, it should make up for the losses this year.
Leasing is a barometer of investor sentiment and the condition of companies, which in turn reflect in the state of the Polish economy. This year, the industry will ‘return to pre-crisis financing levels, which means a market rebound’. This is what Paweł Pach, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Polish Leasing Association (ZPL) and at the same time Chairman of the leading company in the industry, PKO Leasing, predicts – This is good news for the economy due to the expected return of companies to the investment path – he adds.
All the more so because the crisis caused by the year-long COVID-19 pandemic paradoxically accelerated the development of e-commerce. The following years should also encourage the growth of leasing itself as a result of increasing “green” trends in the automotive market, e. g., expected increase in sales of electric and hybrid cars (including city buses), gas and hydrogen vehicles.
In total, as reported by ZPL, in 2020 leasing companies provided financing of PLN 70.1 billion (the year before it was PLN 78 billion). Companies affiliated with the Polish Leasing Association focus on handling leasing transactions. Their value is PLN 60.2 billion. Loan agreements are less frequently concluded – their value in the whole of last year amounted to PLN 9.9 billion.
According to ZPL data, in 2020, with the help of leasing and investment loan, entrepreneurs mostly financed light vehicles (i. e., cars and vans up to 3.5 t, having 47.5% in the structure of the leasing market) and machinery and other equipment (29.1%). Heavy goods vehicles over 3.5 tons, tractors, semi-trailers, trailers and buses (17.8% market share) were slightly less likely to be financed. Other assets, including IT equipment, aircraft, ships, rolling stock and other vehicles, have a 4.4% market share and real estate has a market share of 1.2%.
When asked about their market forecasts, leasing managers expect sales to increase in the first months of this year, although this will not be as pronounced as seen in Q4 2020.
In particular, there are opportunities for greater financing of cars and vans and the real estate sector. Unfortunately, there are no positive prospects when it comes to leasing trucks and buses.
According to ZPL, in 2021 the leasing market will recoup the losses incurred last year. The growth rate of the leasing industry in 2021 at 11% year-on-year will be in line with the projected growth of private investment and the economic development scenario in Poland. In the current year, the leasing industry can provide total financing of more than PLN 77.8 billion.