Leaseurope, the representative body of the European leasing and automotive rental industry, together with Invigors EMEA, the specialist international equipment leasing and asset finance consultancy, have just published the results of the Leaseurope/Invigors European Business Confidence Survey, which was conducted in June 2015.

The latest June findings highlight an overall optimistic outlook for the European leasing business in the second half of 2015, with most of the survey’s measures maintaining the positive sentiment identified in the previous survey conducted in December 2014.

The outlook for new business volumes over the second half of 2015 remains positive, with 79% of those surveyed expecting new business volumes to increase, while just 4% anticipate a decline. Expectations on the level of bad debt remain stable and in line with previous surveys, with the majority of participants (79%) forecasting that bad debt will remain unchanged over the coming 6 months. Similarly, 51% expect no change in margins, although 33% predict that margins will decrease in their organisations, slightly above the percentage recorded in the previous survey. Nonetheless, 62% of respondents anticipate that net profit in their organisation will increase over the next six months, while only 17% believe that this will fall.

Over 40% of those surveyed thought that competition from new entrants was more likely in their home market with the percentage of those perceiving new entrants as a competitive threat increasing steadily over the past three surveys. Also expectations of merger and acquisition activity are changing with 41% predicting this will increase over the rest of the year, a marked rise on the 28% recorded in the previous survey.

Industry expectations on a number of other key indicators covering service levels, expenditure and staffing show little change for the second half of 2015.

Invigors EMEA Partner Richard Ryan adds, “This latest Business Confidence Survey suggests that 2015 is likely to be another good year for the European leasing industry. Growth is forecast to continue for the remainder of the year, while the balance of opinion on other KPIs is generally favourable. Nearly 60% of respondents in the June survey are more optimistic about the prospects for their business in the second half of this year, while only 6% thought that their business prospects would worsen.”