The ELFA’s Monthly Leasing and Finance Index showed overall new business volume for January was $5.1 billion, up 21% from volume of $4.2 billion in the same period in 2011. Volume was down 53% from December, following the typical end-of-quarter, end-of-year spike in new business activity.

Credit quality metrics continued to improve. Receivables over 30 days decreased to 1.9% in January from 2.1% in December. Charge-offs decreased to 0.5% from 0.7% in December.

Following an unusually high credit approval ratio in December, credit approvals returned to a more typical level of 77% in January. More than 71% of participating organizations reported submitting more transactions for approval during January, down from 77% in December.

Finally, total headcount for equipment finance companies in January decreased 3.0% from December and was down 3.0% year over year. Supplemental data show that the construction and trucking industries continued to lead the underperforming sectors.

Separately, the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation’s Monthly Confidence Index (MCI-EFI) for February is 59.6, a slight increase from the January index of 59.0, indicating industry participants’ optimism is steady despite a cautious outlook about the global economic situation in the coming months.

ELFA president and CEO William G. Sutton said: “January’s increase in new business volume returned to a more typical growth pattern following a very busy end-of-year for many leasing and finance companies. The continued strengthening in financing volume and trend toward healthier portfolios provide clear evidence that the equipment finance marketplace is in the midst of regaining some of the momentum lost during the Great Recession.”

Daniel McCabe, senior vice president, Sales and Marketing, John Deere Financial, located in Johnston, IA, said, “The agriculture sector continues to operate at very high levels and equipment sales and financing are robust. The construction sector is recovering from a deep recession beginning with increases in the rental fleet portion of the industry. Adequate liquidity and favorable interest rates will support further expansion of the business.”