VB Leasing: Financing down, profit up

VB Leasing, a company of the Austrian group Volksbank, financed goods worth 12.7 million euros in the first quarter of the year, down 70% against the same period of 2008. All leasing companies will see declines in 2009, because the market is significantly affected by the collapse of new car sales, as well as by the lack of liquidity. "The decline is due to the economic crisis we have been experiencing since the end of 2008. Following the lack of orders from clients, a lot of companies are suffering from a shortage of liquidity, which is why many clients of VB Leasing, whose portfolio is 75% made up of corporate clients, find it impossible to fulfil their contractual obligations," explain VB Leasing officials. Whereas financing granted by the company is going down, its profit is rising. In the first three months of this year, VB Leasing posted a 2.7 million-euro gross profit, 22% more than in the first quarter of last year. "This rise is explained by the changes made in the organisation's structure and by the cost cutting programme implemented by the company in view of increasing efficiency," say company representatives.