Financing activities in France suffered significantly in 2020

Most financing activities in France saw a sharp decline in production in 2020, affected by the economic and health crisis, with the exception of the surety activity, revealed on Friday the Association of Financing Companies (ASF ) in its annual activity report.

The figures "testify to the extraordinary dimension of this year marked by a global pandemic", underlined Françoise Palle-Guillabert, general delegate of the ASF.

It was real estate leasing that experienced the sharpest drop, with a drop of 23,4% compared to 2019. With the exception of other sectors, the drop did not abate in the second half of the year and s 'is even accentuated with -25,3%, against -20,6% in the first.

Real estate is a sector "much less sensitive to a rapid recovery" and "the rise of teleworking" poses long-term challenges, in particular on the office premises, indicated during a videoconference François Camilleri, president of the ASF leasing commission.

Equipment rental financing has fallen "only" by 8,5% in 2020.

With a "dizzying" drop of 33,9% in the second quarter, Camilleri considers the drop recorded at the end of the year "limited", due to a recovery in activity in the second half.

Factoring, which consists of the takeover of business receivables by a so-called "factor" financial institution, experienced a 7,5% contraction in activity, the first in eleven years and the largest in its history.

Consumer credit fell by 11,7%, close to the 11,5% revealed by the ASF in February. This is the sharpest drop since the financial crisis of 2008. In 2020, 24,9% of households had consumer credit, the lowest figure since 1989 and the creation of the Observatory of loans to households.

Finally, the deposit is the "only job that ends in the green", commented Françoise Palle-Guillabert, with + 5,9%.

The French Association of Financial Companies, which collects and publishes this data, brings together some 270 specialized companies.