Leasing in the Time of Corona

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a decline in all economic sectors, and all global leasing and equipment financing market participants have been negatively affected. However, with all its challenges, the pandemic has also opened up a lot of potential for developing micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). But these challenges also raise new questions, such as how to finance this development.

The European Union has focused on this issue in numerous strategic documents because the growth and development of micro, small, and medium-sized companies and entrepreneurs have great potential for stimulating economic growth, innovation, competitiveness, and employment. Global leasing development trends position leasing as a strong and central player at the heart of the economy with one common aspect: financing company development.

It has been observed that the market performance of leasing during the pandemic varied from sector to sector, depending on lockdowns and reopening of population movement. Although there was an overall decline in leasing financing in Europe of 12.1% for the entire year 2020, resulting in a loss of new revenue of 100 billion euros, the fourth quarter saw a smaller decline of 4.2% compared to the same quarter the previous year. In the UK, the leasing industry grew by 1% in February 2021 in the sector that financed new businesses compared to the same month in 2020, and leasing finance sectors related to machinery and vehicles reported increases of 14% and 8%, respectively, in the same month-to-month comparison. It is predicted that leasing financing for IT equipment and software will grow 11.2% in the United States by the end of 2021.

As with every industry, the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted the leasing market in Serbia, reducing the value of newly concluded contracts by 20 per cent. However, the Serbian market saw a significant recovery in 2021, even though it did not reach the results from 2019.

The leasing industry showed a strong recovery during the first two quarters of 2021 in Serbia, with a growth rate of 44 per cent compared to the same period in 2020. In the first six months, the total value of newly concluded financial leasing contracts amounted to 260 million euros. Looking at the structure, in the first quarter of 2021, passenger vehicles held a dominant position with 42 per cent, amounting to 108.4 million euros. The second position, with 35 per cent of the total portfolio of the Serbian financial leasing market, is financing commercial and cargo vehicles, totalling 90.8 million euros. The machinery and equipment segment is third with 20 per cent, while the real estate segment is fourth with 3 per cent. The total number of vehicles financed through leasing in the first six months of 2021 was 12,752, significantly higher than the 9,640 vehicles financed in the same period the previous year. On the other hand, the number of funded vehicles in the first half of 2019, which was 14,144, has yet to be reached.

Passenger cars represent a dominant part of the leasing financing by companies in Serbia, which can be a double-edged sword. An increasingly discussed topic in recent years is ecology. We must ask ourselves whether the pandemic has brought greater awareness of ecology or if younger generations, for whom this is more important, are emerging. Will leasing financing focused on passenger and cargo vehicles continue with this positive trend? Electric vehicle sales are constantly increasing, as evidenced by the interesting fact that even though total car sales fell by 20 per cent in 2020, electric vehicle sales increased by 43 per cent. Millennials, becoming the leading consumer group, are not inclined towards ownership, gasoline, or diesel but prefer ecology and subscriptions. Therefore, they will seek even more straightforward vehicle rental, leasing, and renting models, especially for eco-friendly vehicles. Alternatively, will leasing turn more towards financing the development of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises and increase investment financing for companies, not just four-wheelers? This is a segment where funds are most needed, where global practice is directing the most, and where it will significantly impact gross domestic product growth.