By Bob Tita
A survey of credit providers showed that loans and leases for
business equipment in the U.S. fell 7.2% in August, just the second
drop in the monthly survey in the last 41 months.
Respondents to the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association's
monthly survey published Monday said they financed $6.4 billion of
new equipment last month, down from $6.9 billion in August 2012.
Financed purchases in August were down 11% from July's $7.2
billion. For the year, business volume is up 7.7% over the same
time in 2012.
The Washington-based trade association said tension over U.S.
involvement in Syria's civil war and rising fears about a federal
government shutdown this fall caused by the ongoing debt-ceiling
and budget standoff between Congress and the Obama Administration
may have tempered some purchasing decisions last month.
"Business investment in equipment took a late-summer breather,"
said William Sutton, president of the finance association.
The last year-over-year decline in the survey was in February.
Credit-portfolio quality measured by the survey continued to
reflect the strong financial condition of borrowers.
Loans and leases past due by more than 30 days dropped to 1.6%
of survey respondents' net receivables in August, down from 1.9% in
May 2012 but up slightly from 1.5% in July.
Charge-offs amounted to 0.4% of respondents' net receivables
last month, flat with a year ago, but up slightly from the 0.3%
recorded in each of the previous five months. The approval rate for
loan and lease applications rose to 79.1% in August, compared with
77% a year earlier and 78.6% in July.
The Equipment Leasing and Finance Foundation's confidence index
was 61.3 in September, unchanged from August's level.
The 25 respondents to the association's survey included banks
Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and Fifth
Third Bancorp (FITB), as well as finance units for manufacturers
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT), Deere & Co. (DE), Volvo Group, Dell
Inc. (DELL) and Siemens AG (SI, SIE.XE)
Write to Bob Tita at robert.tita@wsj.com