Consumer finance companies and leasing firms have this year lost ten of thousands of clients as new funding has not kept up with the pace of repayments.
At the same time, leasing firms have recovered ever more goods
from bad payers and closed the respective funding contracts.
In late August, NBFIs (non-bank financial institutions) had around
242,000 loans granted, down from over 290,000 at the end of last
year, according to NBR data.
Leasing firms have published several thousand ads on their websites
with the goods repossessed from clients, largely cars, with their
resale becoming the companies’ main business as new funding plunged
by 70% last year and by 30% in the first half of 2010.
The situation is likely to deteriorate further in the second half,
as retail funding was completely frozen in July and August, a
period during which leasing firms adjusted their contracts to the
Emergency Ordinance 50/2010.
Since the start of the year, the total volume of funding released
by NBFIs registered with NBR’s special registry has dropped by 330m
euros, to 7.54bn euros (the equivalent of 32bn RON).