The liquidity needs of companies nowsays require new solutions and complementary solutions to traditional bank financing. These include renting, leasing and leaseback. Solutions that provide liquidity with added advantages for companies, as they allow them to use facilities and equipment of any type on a rental basis with a much lower investment than they would need to purchase them.
Rising interest rates have further complicated access to credit for investment in a highly volatile environment with rising inflation and very high energy costs. Given this situation, rental solutions such as renting and leasing can be a very useful alternative for companies. In addition, they offer financial advantages and reduce corporate debt. According to the Spanish Leasing and Renting Association (AELR), these solutions finance up to a third of company investments. And the prospect of further rate hikes in the future makes them even more appealing.
What these solutions propose is a contract whereby a lessor transfers the right of use of an asset to a company, who is the lessee and has to pay rent. It’s an option that can be applied to any tangible asset used by the company but there are differences between renting, leasing and leaseback.
Renting
Renting is a financing model that allows goods to be rented for a certain timeframe and, at the end of this period, they are returned to the leasing company. This solution is especially recommended for companies that need real estate for their day-to-day business. The most common case is a fleet of vehicles, but it can be used for a warehouse or office as well. A high purchase investment is avoided, thus providing the company with more liquidity.
In Spain, the average term of a renting contract is currently three years and eight months: 44 months, according to the Spanish Leasing and Renting Association (AELR), which points to a spectacular growth of more than 80% in the first half of this year compared to 2021. Renting has an added tax advantage, as it allows for VAT and personal income tax deductions. Vehicle renting is the most common leasing contract, accounting for almost 26% of vehicle registrations in Spain
Leasing
This leasing formula allows for purchase at the end of the term stipulated by the contract. Like renting, it can be used to finance machinery, real estate, and any other commercial or industrial infrastructure of the business activity.
A distinction can be made between financial and operational leasing. In financial leasing, the entrepreneur chooses the asset, the supplier and the lease term, but the bank acquires the asset and leases it to the company. At the end of the contract, the customer has the option to keep the rented property as their own property or to replace it with another property.
Operational leasing is done without intermediaries. The entrepreneur signs the contract directly with the manufacturer or supply company, and they commit to monthly payments. Unlike renting, there are no extra services associated with the use of the goods at the lessor’s expense, such as repairs. If you choose to keep the property at the end of the contract, the rental fees are deducted from the final price.
Leaseback
Within leasing, there is a special case called leaseback, which can be particularly interesting as a financing alternative for companies. This is because the company sells a property to a leasing company, but retains its use as a lessee with the option to buy at the end of the contract. In this way, the customer obtains liquidity using its own resources.
This option can be applied to virtually any company asset and allows the monetisation of company-owned assets without disposing of them and with the option to buy them back at the end of the lease period.
In the current climate, companies still need resources to become more competitive and to continue to grow, as well as survive, and financing is the way to achieve this. At Kaizen Consulting, we are experts in advising companies on how to obtain the liquidity they need for their business. We analyse the situation and needs of each company and quickly find tailor-made solutions among all the options offered by the market. Contact us and our specialised team will study your case without obligations.