31
DECEMBER 2014
ACT
ROUND TABLE
FINANCE
in theU.S.market. We also see a
strengtheningability forU.S. companies
(particularly those in themiddlemarket)
toobtain financing. Companies that
have squirreledaway enough cash to
weather the recessionand slowgrowth
period from2009-2012are looking strong
today. Fromwhatwe are seeingheading
into2015,manyof those companieswill
have their third consecutiveyearof good
revenuegrowth, positive income and
MARKET FORNEWCRANESANDSECURING
FINANCING FORNEWCRANES?
Buechler:
Financingavailabilityhas
improveddramatically from thedepths
of 2009and early2010, though financing
structures aremore conservative and
borrowers are facing closer scrutiny than
theydidback in thepre-crash era. That
being said, there arenumerous local
and regional playersback in thegame,
which combinedwithour long-standing
vendor financepartnership, has allowed
us tobe able to secure financing for the
vastmajorityof our customers that are
interested inpurchasinga crane.
Fry:
This is surprising tome– I thinkwe
have seenagood increase in the activity
level fornew equipment purchases this
year andare expecting the last quarter to
beverybusy.Our company isdifferent
thanmost companies that provide
financing to the crane industryasour
company is alignedwithmanydifferent
typesof funding sources.Our customers
range from thevery large companies
withgood financials and cash flow to
the smallmomandpop shops to the
companies thatmight have abit of “story”
to their financials.We are able toprovide
financing for almost any typeof customer
–our approval rating is veryhigh.
Whitcomb:
SumitomoMitsui Finance
andLeasing is theU.S. branchof amajor
Japanese companywith close cooperation
among the companyandmany Japanese
OEMsof cranes. Inourplanning for the
U.S.market,we see increases in shipments
to theU.S. and increasing financing
volume. During thepast year, the Japanese
yenhasweakened15percent against
theU.S. dollar and thishasmade cranes
exported fromoverseasmore competitive
W
hil
e financing av
ail
ab
il
ity
has
imp
rov
ed
s
ub
s
tantial
l
y
s
ince the economic
d
ownturn of 2008
through earl
y
2010,
b
orrowers
are s
til
l
facing
cl
os
er s
crutiny
.
>32
F
rom2009 to2011, gettinga loan
tobuya crane, gantry, trailer
or anypieceof construction
equipmentwas anarduousprocess.
The subprimemortgage crisis caused
just about every sectorof the lending
community to change theway theydo
business.Companieswith strongbalance
sheets andgreat credit histories received
scrutiny that previouslywas reserved for
a companywitha lot of debt and tenuous
financials. To say the least, itwas ahard
time togrowabusinessunless youhada
lot of cashonhand.
Today, gettinga loan tobuy equipment
is easier, but the copious analysis is still
there.Whilemoney is available and for
reasonablygood rates, borrowers still have
to jump throughhoops toprove that the
equipment theywant topurchase is agood
financial decision.
Forour annual finance roundtable,we
talked to three financeprofessionals: Jay
Buechler, directorof trade finance for
NorthAmerica,Manitowoc;HarryFry,
president ofHarryFryandAssociates; and
JeffreyS.Whitcomb, senior vicepresident/
executivedirector,Constructionand
TransportationFinanceGroup, Sumitomo
Mitsui Finance&Leasing.
Followingare their answers toour
questions.
ACOUPLE OFMAJOROEMSHAVE ADJUSTED
THEIRCRANE SALES FORECAST DOWNWARD
FOR THEREMAINDEROF 2014, CITINGADROP
INORDERSAND THE “STRUGGLE” TOSECURE
FINANCING. HOWDO YOUCHARACTERIZE THE
”
‘‘
A
s
l
ong as
a cus
tomer that is
interes
ted
in a us
ed
crane
is
cred
itworthy
and
has
reas
onab
l
e ex
p
ectations
of what financing
s
tructure they
woul
d
find
accep
tab
l
e,
financing
for us
ed
Manitowoc
eq
uip
ment is
read
il
y
av
ail
ab
l
e.
JAY BUECHLER, director
of trade finance
for North America,
Manitowoc
The finance
dance
