MOST leasing companies clustered in the Association of Leasing Companies (ALS) reported growth last year with UniCredit Leasing Slovakia having the highest year-on-year increase in the volume of new deals. UniCredit Leasing Slovakia concluded contracts worth €295.5 million in 2011, an annual increase of 86.5 percent, the TASR newswire wrote.
ČSOB Leasing had the second best growth rate at 10.3 percent, to a volume of €279.3 million.
The number three in the leasing market last year was Volkswagen Finančné Služby even though it posted a year-on-year decline in the volume of new deals of 5.7 percent, to €177.9 million.
Tatra-Leasing was fourth with new deals worth €170.7 million, representing 20.9-percent growth. VÚB Leasing concluded new contracts for €152.9 million, an increase of 33.6 percent. All other leasing companies sealed deals worth less than €100 million.
UniCredit Leasing Slovakia had a breakthrough year in 2011 in the aftermath of the economic crisis. The leasing company stated that it was again engaged in most investment projects on the Slovak market.
But the outlook for 2012 is somewhat gloomy. Dušan Keketi, a member of the board of directors of UniCredit Leasing, stated that the year began with the unfortunate cancellation of leasing depreciation under the law, noting however, that this was changed and leasing depreciation is again fully in effect as of March 1.
