The Romanian leasing market declined 72 per cent last year against 2008, to EUR 1.33 bln, subject to the value of financed goods, on the background of a car market fall, according to data from the Financial Companies Association - ALB Romania, Mediafax reports. “Last year, vehicle acquisition funding registered a fall bigger than the average of the whole relevant market, respectively 75.2 per cent, to EUR 839.6 M. The equipment segment also had a 75.9 per cent decrease, to EUR 261.16 M,” ALB president, Jean-Claude Boloux told a press conference yesterday. He underlined that leasing market dynamics is closely connected with the evolution of national economy, which registered a regression of over 7 per cent vs. 2008.

According to ALB data, real estate leasing shrank 33.9 per cent last year, reaching RON 232.65 M, against EUR 351.84 M in 2008.

In 2009, ALB members financed assets with a total value of EUR 1.307 bln (98 per cent), while non-affiliated companies, of EUR 26.045 M (2 per cent). The granted funds went to various domains, and equipments reached a weight of 20 per cent (EUR 261 M) of the total, the real estate sector – 17 per cent (EUR 233 M), and transports – 63 per cent (EUR 839 M).

In transport funding, cars have a share of 61 per cent, heavy commercial vehicles - 21 per cent, light commercial vehicles - 16 per cent, and other types of vehicles - 2 per cent of the total. Transports funding registers a fall of around 72 per cent for cars and light commercial vehicles, according to ALB data. Funding drops in the field of equipments as a whole followed the general trend of the market, except for construction equipments which registered a fall of around 87 per cent.

Funding in real estate sector is dominated by industrial and commercial buildings, with a total of 36 per cent, and class A, B and C office spaces, with 26 per cent. In exchange, land financing accounts for 4 per cent, while the remaining 34 per cent goes to hotels, the residential sector and blocks of flats.

Moreover, 2010 will be a difficult year for the leasing market, which is expected to stagnate or have an irrelevant growth, compared to the previous years. Companies in the field are trying to identify new revenue growth opportunities and to remain in this domain, Boloux said. “The gloomiest scenario would be for the market to drop this year the same as in 2009, and in this case, leasing companies should stop operations. Market players are trying to identify new market segments likely to generate new revenues and get ready for the moment when the market is going to resume its growth,” Boloux added.