New business reported by the commercial vehicle finance and business equipment finance sectors grew in August by 28% and 24% respectively, while plant and machinery finance new business was up by 20% over the same period.

Commenting on the figures, Geraldine Kilkelly, head of research and chief economist at the FLA, said: “August saw the asset finance market record its strongest rate of new business growth so far this year, with double-digit growth across most of the main asset sectors. The strong performance of the plant and machinery finance sector was driven by higher levels of new finance for manufacturing, construction and agricultural equipment.”

Dave Chapman, director Midlands Asset Finance, said: “The latest FLA figures provide further evidence that the economy remains fairly robust, that businesses are looking to invest and that they are looking at options other than the traditional banking route to finance their growth.”

The FLA research also shows that new business in the point-of-sale (POS) consumer new car finance market grew 9% by value and 5% by volume in August, compared with the same month last year.

The percentage of private new car sales financed by FLA members through the POS reached 85.5% in the twelve months to August, up from 85.3% in the twelve months to July.

The POS consumer used car finance market also reported new business growth in August, of 23% by value and 21% by volume.

Kilkelly said: “The growth reported by the POS consumer car finance market in August marked more than five years of consecutive monthly new business growth. The performance of this market is in line with our expectations of strong single-digit new business growth in 2016 as a whole.”