The leasing market continued to expand in the first half of the year. The volume of new financing reached HUF 520 billion (EUR 1.4 billion), an increase of 8.5%.
The number of contracts rose by 5.5% to 42,550. Four out of five new contracts involved new assets. The total value of the portfolio increased by 5.5% to HUF 2,480 billion (EUR 6.8 billion), while the number of contracts in the portfolio fell by 0.5% to just under 310,000.
The market continues to be dominated by corporate customers. 90% of new financing, amounting to HUF 475 billion (EUR 1.3 billion), went to this group. Three-quarters of this amount was accounted for by SMEs. Financing for private customers also increased, reaching HUF 45 billion (EUR 123 million), or 8% of the total market. In terms of the number of contracts, the share of private customers has already exceeded 19%, with around 8,200 contracts.
In the first half of the year, finance leasing remained the dominant form of financing, accounting for 84% of all transactions. Of this, HUF 295 billion (EUR 808 million) consisted of closed-end finance leasing and HUF 140 billion (EUR 383.5 million) of open-end finance leasing contracts. Lending under state- and EU-supported programs also increased, reaching HUF 26.5 billion (EUR 76.2 million) in the first half of the year. State subsidies for agricultural machinery under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) made a significant contribution to this growth. The volume of operating leases stood at HUF 55 billion (EUR 150.6 million). These transactions mainly involved passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, primarily through fleet management companies.
The share of foreign-currency financing remained high, although it declined slightly compared with the previous year. 27% of the financing volume and 15% of contracts were denominated in euros.
According to the association, state-supported programs will continue to play an important role in the current interest-rate environment, particularly for SMEs, where leasing is used entirely to finance investments.
Financing for passenger cars, light commercial vehicles and motorcycles remains the largest segment of the leasing market. In the first half of the year, new financing worth HUF 320 billion (EUR 876.7 million) was concluded. The number of contracts increased by 4.5% to a total of 35,850 transactions.
New registrations of heavy commercial vehicles increased by 2% compared with the same period of the previous year, reaching 2,460 units. The bus market recorded 44% growth in new registrations, to 470 units. Financing for trucks and trailers declined by almost 13%.