UniCredit Leasing" to focus on financing new customers

Leasing companies have begun recovering from the economic crisis, after their business experienced significant stagnation last year, experts say.

"Our activity will focus on financing new customers, but we will nevertheless judiciously select our operating sectors and customers", said Antoaneta Curteanu, CEO of UniCredit Leasing Corporation. She explained that the evolution of the leasing market closely mimics that of the entire economy, following its overall trend and reacting to any contraction of the industrial sectors.

"At this stage, we consider ourselves as reliable partners of the small and medium enterprise sector, meaning that the leasing contracts for production equipment and car fleets account for a significant share of the company"s turnover", said the head of "UniCredit Leasing Corporation". She said that the company also plans to remain the number one lender on the corporate segment.

"We have remained close to those partners-customers that have tightened their business early and understood that the crisis period is a good opportunity to improve the foundation of their businesses", Mrs. Curteanu said. She also added that Unicredit Leasing is going to target the sectors that need retooling: food industry, private clinics, and agricultural sector.

Customers that apply for leasing contracts favor the Euro. "Transactions in Euros have traditionally held a significant share of the total volume of leasing contracts, and this behavior has not been influenced by the crisis", said Antoaneta Curteanu.

• "UniCredit Leasing" has doubled the volume of its car leasing contracts in the past quarter

"UniCredit Leasing" has nearly doubled the volume of car leasing contracts in the second quarter of 2010, Antoaneta Curteanu said. She explained: "As a company, we are in a privileged position in this respect. In this case, I am referring to the traditional partnerships that we have with car dealers which have allowed us to provide our customers with the possibility of buying second hand cars sold by authorized dealers".

"UniCredit Leasing" also provides ancillary services to its customers. For instance, the company offers an insurance policy for leased vehicles for the first three years of the contract, calculated based on the price the vehicle would sell for if it were brand new, which allows customers whose vehicle was totally destroyed or stolen to be compensated with the full amount needed to buy a new car.

The company also offers solutions for those who have acquired assets in leasing when the market was booming. "We are doing our best to stand by our customers, by providing them with the option to reschedule their payments or offering them a grace period, as the case may be", the official of "UniCredit Leasing" said.

Text foto: Antoaneta Curteanu, CEO al "UniCredit Leasing": "Leasing contracts for production equipment and vehicles account for a significant share of the total financing volume of UniCredit Leasing".