Today, leasing is by no means confined to the car market. Industrial equipment, heavy movable goods such as lorries and earth moving equipment or cranes, and functional corporate buildings are all perfectly suited for leasing.
 
"More and more companies are choosing leasing from among the wide range of banking products that are available to meet their credit requirements. Lessee and lessor conclude a win-win contract. The customer chooses for flexibility and the 100 % financing possibility. He maintains control of his assets and the company's cashflow is not put under pressure. On the other hand, the financing party has the security of the investment goods."

"Many manufacturers and service companies offer their customers leasing formulas. Just like car manufacturers, the fork-lift truck sector and suppliers of machines are also starting to offer vendor programmes in close collaboration with major banks."

 "Two companies operating in a port signed an agreement for the leasing of overhead cranes recently. The first company opted for a financial leasing plan over 7 years while the second chose for operational leasing over 5 years. This is a good example of how flexible leasing products can be."

Leasing and debt ratio complement each other
Leasing is based on the profit-making capacity of products rather than on their ownership. It lowers the financing cost and stimulates investments.

Research has revealed there is a link between the penetration level of leasing and the general situation of the economy. In fast-growing and mature economies, such as those in Western Europe, the level of leasing is an indicator for the soundness of the economic activity.

During periods when credit is scarce or profit forecasts are negative, leasing still makes a-cyclical investments possible. Further research indicates that leasing and the debt ratio actually complement each other.
Leasing is an alternative financing technique that promotes investments because it does not immobilise company assets.

The leasing landscape
Asset-based leasing is growing more quickly than traditional banking products. The European leasing market remains under-developed in comparison with the American market where 30 % of all company investment is with leasing.

The average penetration rate for the leasing industry in Europe is 12.5%.

Germany accounts for about 1/4 of all leasing activities in Europe.
Great Britain is the second largest leasing market, despite the abolishing of fiscal incentives.
France, Italy, and the UK are among those countries in which leasing has the  greatest share in the total amount of investments.
The penetration rates of countries such as The Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Finland lie below 10%.

Fortis Lease is one of the major European players
Fortis Lease is part of the Fortis group. Fortis Lease is number 1 in Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, number 4 in the Netherlands and number 7 in the ranking of European leasing companies that offer cross-border solutions. In addition, Fortis Lease has a firm base in Great Britain, Germany and Poland. Joint co-operation agreements have been made in Spain and Italy.
 
The cross-border leasing activities of Fortis Lease have made it possible to develop products for several countries across Europe. Vendor leasing programmes are an example of this.

"Fortis Lease is gradually expanding the product range. The development of new leasing formulas in accordance with the new IAS standards has started."