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PRESS
RELEASES
Repossession
Trends 2003: Outlook for Trucks, Printing, and Construction
Brightened, But Some Other Equipment Categories Took Hits
Nassau
Asset Management Releases Results for 2003
ROSLYN
HEIGHTS, N.Y., Feb. 17, 2003—Repossessions of
trucks and trailers declined throughout all four quarters
of 2003, signaling good news for the U.S. trucking industry,
according to Nassau Asset Management's NasTrac Quarterly
Index (NQI). In other positive economic trends, repossessions
involving printing presses and construction equipment dropped
off during the final three quarters. Still, 2003 was not
a turnaround economic year for all types of equipment repossessions.
"Just
as the overall economy strengthened in 2003, we noted significant
improvements in three of the five top equipment repossession
categories that we resell - trucks, printing presses, and
construction. But 2003 was not completely rosy when you
analyze repossessions of some other types of equipment,"
says Ed Castagna, senior vice president of Nassau Asset
Management.
"While
there were 46 percent fewer repossessions of machine tools
overall in 2003, they had a roller-coaster year -- a very
strong start followed by a weaker showing in the final three
quarters. This may reflect the uneven recovery of the manufacturing
industry as a whole. Members of the Turnaround Management
Association, who are corporate renewal specialists, recently
picked manufacturing as one of the industries that suffered
the most during 2003," Castagna explains. "In
addition, there were actually more repossessions of medical
devices in 2003 than in 2002. This may have been due in
part to continuing regulatory and insurance pressures on
the industry."
Nassau
Asset Management has tracked equipment for several decades
as a function of its nationwide remarketing operation, which
resells all types of assets including trucks, construction
equipment, printing presses, machine tools, medical devices,
and buses. The company in 2003 launched NQI, which reports
on equipment types generating the greatest volume of liquidations.
NQI's
public data provides a snapshot of recent recovery and sales
activity compared with the same time frame a year before,
helping equipment leasing and finance companies forecast
current market conditions so they can evaluate the strengths
and weaknesses of their portfolios. When viewed over time,
NQI also can be leveraged as one of several components to
help gauge the economic health of individual industry sectors.
Nassau
clients can obtain more detailed information as part of
the NQI service, including customized data on specific types
of equipment and their values extending back to 2000.
Top
Repossessions in 2003
The
NQI 2003 year-end analysis reports on trucks/trailers, printing
presses, medical devices, machine tools, and construction
equipment. These were the top five repossessed capital assets
in 2003, according to Nassau's internal records on liquidations.
Castagna
says the 2003 data, when compared with 2002, indicates:
- a
56 percent overall decrease in repossessions of trucks
and trailers. Trucks and trailers were the only one of
the five top equipment categories tracked that showed
improvement over all four quarters. Other positive trends
within the industry include the growth in commercial trucks
sales over the latter part of 2003 and projected into
2004, according to the Truck Renting and Leasing Association
(TRALA).
- a
63 percent overall drop in repossessions of printing presses.
Printing presses overcame a poor showing in Q1 2003 (up
141 percent compared with Q1 2002) to improve over the
last three quarters of the year. This correlates with
findings from the National Association of Printing Leadership
(NAPL), which reported in November that the printing industry
was "finally showing signs of what may be a sustainable
upturn, following more than two years of steep and broad
sales declines."
- a
24 percent overall decline in repossessions of construction
equipment. Construction equipment had a rough first quarter,
(up 452 percent from Q1 2002) but improved over the final
three quarters. Other signs of a strengthening construction
industry include a U.S. Commerce Department report released
Feb. 2 that showed construction spending in January rose
for the seventh consecutive month.
- a
16 percent overall increase in repossessions of medical
devices, despite a strong first quarter (down 63 percent
from Q1 2002). This may reflect a number of pressures
within the industry. A 2003 survey of members of the Advanced
Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed), for example,
painted a picture of "a highly competitive industry
that is increasing its focus on developing next-generation
and breakthrough technologies. The findings also paint
a picture of an industry that is encountering significant
FDA regulatory hurdles in getting these advances approved
as well as intense pressure to assure that their technologies
are cost saving or cost effective."
- a
46 percent overall decrease in repossessions of machine
tools. Repossessions of machine tools dropped dramatically
in Q1 (down 76 percent from Q1 2002), increased slightly
by 4 percent in Q2 compared with the same timeframe the
previous year, then jumped significantly during the final
two quarters (up 83 percent from Q3 2002 and 52 percent
from Q4 2002). Despite some positive news in the machine
tool industry during 2003, including reports of increased
demand in November, members of the Turnaround Management
Association recently picked manufacturing as one of the
industries that suffered the most during 2003.
Readers
should keep in mind that the assets NQI covers may change
from quarter to quarter since Nassau plans to feature only
the largest asset groups in its multimillion dollar portfolio.
Additionally, results must be viewed over several quarters
to establish reliable trends since all industries experience
cyclical changes.
To view
NQI charts on repossessions as they are available, please
visit the Web sites of equipment leasing and finance industry
trade journals or contact Nassau.
ABOUT NASSAU
Nassau
Asset Management of Roslyn Heights, NY, has been providing
full-service asset management, including asset recovery,
collections, remarketing, plant liquidations, and appraisals
for more than 25 years to the equipment leasing and finance
industry. For more information, please visit www.nasset.com
or call 1-800-4.NASSAU.
# # #
MEDIA
CONTACTS:
Edward
Castagna
Senior Executive Vice President
Nassau Asset Management
1-800.4.NASSAU, ext. 301
ecast@nasset.com
Carla Young Harrington
PR Agent for Nassau
540-899-3913
carla@crosslink.net
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