Pictures from the Past-1994- The Barash
Family
Classified Ads---Jobs Wanted
American Express Business
Finance Layoffs
Bankers Leasing &
Softech Financial Close Their Doors
Citigroup
Chief Called to Account for Conflicts in His Empire
Greenspan---Money
There to Support War and Tax Cut
Business
starts off 25% last year
Gloomy
prognosis for S.F. Bay Area economy
NAELB
Regional Meeting, Marina del Rey, California
---Gerry
Egan, President
Preferred
Broker Solutions First Release of CapitalStream Advantage
Alexa
Ranks Leasing News/Association Web Sites
Our First
"Display Ad" at www.leasingnews.org
Synovus and
United Financial Merger Update
Banks make lots of
money off 'free checking' accounts
CIT SBL Signs Exclusive Lending
Agreement with Pearle Vision
Willis Lease Finance improves to 85.6%
in September
### Denotes Press Release
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pictures
from the Past-1994- The Barash Family
Erich
Barash, President, GIC Leasing, Inc., Hollywood, California,
with
his wife Meri and daughter Brett.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------C
classified
Ads---Jobs Wanted
Sales: St Lucie, FL
Sales, credit, doc. exp.w/top communications skills. Exp.
large territory management from home
office. Various industries; golf equipment, construction,
ff&e, computer related, and others. Sales
achiever. Email:David34983@aol.com
Sales: Louisville, KY
I have been in leasing/financing of construction, machine
tool, and mfg equipment for 20+ years.
Traveled KY, IN, OH and TN.
Email:kyle90@msn.com
Sales: Seattle, WA
Sales professional, looking for sales/leasing position
to work from home office. Tenacious,
aggressive, personable. Strong on the phone. Outstanding
PC, cold-calling, and closing skills.
Email:bsmith@mybillsmith.com
Sales: Phoenix, AZ
Sales professional with 10 years of leasing experience,
seeking a direct leasing company. Currently
in the IT leasing market with vendor relationships, Small/middle
market arena.
Email:cycling4fun2002@yahoo.com
Sales: San Francisco Bay Area, CA
10+ yrs in middle market leasing. Seek direct lessor only.
Transaction size from $500M to $10.0MM.
Client base: printing, food, retail, hvy manufacturing.
Email:edm173@sbcglobal.net
Sales: Mission Viejo, CA
Account Sales Executive with 10 years of leasing experience
looking for company to bring existing
customer base.
Email:makelly21@hotmail.com
For More "Free Ads" on Jobs Wanted
http://65.209.205.32/LeasingNews/JobPostings.htm
All people looking for work, the ads are free. This is
the last day
that "Help Wanted" free. Starting tomorrow,
this section is "paid
advertising" to hopefully pay the salary of the web
person who
works on the web page and does other work for Leasing
News.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
American Express Business Finance Layoffs
"Is letting go of its technology group leasing people
also, many received notices of leaving
February 1st. That's a fact."
Name withheld
Great job on the breaking news. Heard Dengate + Strain
received nice six month severance packages.. More to come
before end of year I'm
sure.
Name withheld
There must be an error on those sales numbers that were
reported for AMEXBF as when I left the
company in June our specialty vehicle division was doing
around 7-8 million a month. With the
amount of sales staff that has been hired I would assume
that the numbers for that division alone
would be over 10 million a month by now...perhaps the
person that submitted the story (or comment
about the recent changes) was reporting sales numbers
for a specific division not AMEXBF in its
entirety.
Carol Suggs
Sr. Vice President
Brenner Leasing
209-742-5466 Voice
209-742-5469 Fax
(We are told "Specialty Vehicle is not part of the
equation. The numbers are for Diversified 1
and 2 and National Vendor." We are attempting to
get a quote from
American Express Business Finance. editor)
--
Pursuant to your recent article regarding our friends
in Houston, It
doesn't come as a surprise that American Express Business
Finance is
attempting to redirect their focus to a low touch - auto
scored - vendor
direct model. At a cost of funds in the low 3's, paying
sales
representatives on present value profit vs. equipment
cost would be
counter to the "Blue Box" value proposition.
It was only a matter of time before the accountants and
HR department in NY
figured out that although the returns were far less attractive,
the cost of
under-performing, salaried sales representatives, carries
far less risk than
managing the daily emotions of an office full of "Top
Guns".
I will give them credit for selecting Ric Andersen as
their "Mastermind" to
help implement the operational efficiencies necessary
to make the model
work. Upon Ric's tenure as COO and Director of Syndications
at The
Republic Group, he immediately initiated programs and
implemented protocols
that not only helped propel annual revenues upwards of
$106,000,000, but
accomplished this keeping delinquencies and repurchases
to an historical
low. Thanks again Ric.
I understand many of the "PVP" sales reps. will
be unable to make the
transition due to the book of business they have created
along with the
lifestyle they have grown accustomed to. CapitalWerks/Preferred
Lease is
accepting applications and offering lucrative compensation
packages for
"PVP" motivated sales reps. Please contact Ashley
Verb at (800) 260-1090
to begin your new career with a World Class Lessor.
Kind Regards, JR
Jim Raeder
JRaeder@preferredlease.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bankers Leasing and Softech Financial Close Their Doors
It appears a division of CitiBank Leasing was closed down,
as I have three confirmations
on this, but no other details at this time:
"My buddy was told today was his last day. His company
(Softech Financial, a
division of Bankers Leasing) was bought by Citi two years
ago (Bankers and
Softech were both bought by ANB ANBRO and then Citi).
His entire division
was let go today. His boss, his bosses boss and so on
were all let go."
Name With Held
I received confirmation that Bankers Leasing and Softech
Financial were
closed as of today. All sales personal were terminated.
Name With Held
Asked a reliable source at CitiBank, if the entire leasing
division
was going to be shut down.
"Off the record, NO it has not, we're are still very
strong."
Name With Held
----
A lot of firings but Mahwah, NJ operation is running as
normal. New
people being hired.
( name with held )
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Please send to a colleague as we are trying to build our
readership.
Ask them to subscribe.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Citigroup Chief Called to Account for Conflicts in His
Empire
By Ben White
Washington Post Staff Writer
NEW YORK, - On the way to transforming Citigroup Inc.
into the largest and most profitable
financial services firm in the nation, Sanford I. Weill
also helped create a new kind of Wall
Street, one in which the key components of modern finance
worked together under the same roof.
Now Citigroup and its leader are caught up in the scrutiny
of that new world. The question is
whether cozy relationships between stock analysts, investment
bankers and other financial players
created conflicts that encouraged companies to deceive
investors and give big clients unfair
advantages over other investors.
The increasing pressure on Weill raises questions about
whether he can repeat what he's done in
other crises in his career: regroup and outmaneuver his
critics.
The 69-year-old chairman and chief executive has been
questioned by federal, state and industry
investigators about Citigroup's research and other operations.
Much of the attention on Citigroup
has centered on the former star analyst in its Salomon
Smith Barney brokerage division, Jack
Grubman, who covered the telecommunications industry.
( full story to be posted at www.leasingnews.org
)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Greenspan---Money There to Support War and Tax Cut
By EDMUND L. ANDREWS
Washington Post (abbreviated)
"It would probably be unwise to unwind the long-term
tax cut, because it is already built into the
system," Alan Greenspan, the chairman of the Federal
Reserve Board told members of the
Congressional Joint Economic Committee.
In his testimony, Mr. Greenspan also expressed confidence
that the United States could shoulder the
costs of a war with Iraq, arguing that the economic impact
would be significantly less than that of
the wars in Korea and Vietnam.
Less than two weeks after the Fed cut interest rates by
an unusually large half a percentage point,
Mr. Greenspan acknowledged that the economy was weighed
down by uncertainty and "geopolitical risk"
- a euphemism for the prospects of a war with Iraq.
Mr. Greenspan said there was no evidence, "at least
up to the moment," that an economic downturn
was accelerating. And while saying the Federal Reserve
remained ready to intervene again if the
economy did deteriorate, he said the "most probable
path" was one of gradual improvement and that
another round of monetary stimulus would not be necessary.
But even if the economy deteriorated further, Mr. Greenspan
said, he still disputed economists who
worried that the Federal Reserve had exhausted its tools
for fighting potential deflation in prices
or was close to losing the ability to revive the economy
because interest rates had reached such
low levels. If need be, he said, the Federal Reserve could
still stimulate activity by buying up a
wide range of securities in the financial markets.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Business starts off 25% last year
By Beth Healy,Boston Globe Staff
Global entrepreneurial activity plunged 25 percent last
year, as economies around the world
softened, according to a study by Babson College and the
London Business School that's expected to
be released today.
The steepest drops in entrepreneurship were found in France,
Italy, Germany, Japan, and the United
Kingdom, and in Canada. The number of people starting
new firms in those nations dropped at rates
ranging from 22 percent in Canada to 65 percent in Japan.
US activity has been relatively stable
this year, the study found, with 10 percent of Americans
engaged in starting companies, vs. 10.5
percent in 2001. The difference was not statistically
significant, according to the study's
preparers. This country saw a large decline in start-up
formation last year, after reaching a high
in 2000, when 16.6 percent of US adults said they owned
or managed a business that was less than
31/2 years old.
''It appears that the US has stabilized at a level of
entrepreneurial activity that will allow us
to begin rebuilding or at least maintaining our current
position for some time,'' said Larry Cox,
director of research at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
in Kansas City, which pays for the
annual study.
The project focuses on adults aged 18 to 64. Globally,
the study found that 286 million people, or
12 percent of the 2.4 billion member labor force, are
involved in forming new businesses. Globally,
men are more than twice as likely to start companies as
women, the study found. The typical
entrepreneur is between 25 and 44 years old.
Entrepreneurial activity is strongest in developing Asian
countries, where people run small
businesses out of economic necessity, according to the
study. One-third of the people studied, or
107 million, said they were entrepreneurs because they
had ''no better choices for work.'' The
other two-thirds said they were pursuing attractive business
opportunities. Starting companies is
least common in Europe, central Europe, and developed
Asian countries. In the middle are Latin
America, the United States, and the United Kingdom, and
Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South
Africa.
While venture capital is considered a high-profile way
to finance start-ups in the United States,
''informal'' financing actually has dwarfed venture funding
globally in 2002, at $300 billion from
family, friends, and lenders, compared with $60 billion
in venture money.
Beth Healy can be reached at bhealy@globe.com.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gloomy prognosis for S.F. Bay Area economy
Sam Zuckerman,S.F. Chronicle Economics Writer
With the economy turning down and the technology sector
still slumping,
Bay Area executives have grown increasingly sour about
regional business conditions, according to a
survey set to be released today.
Only 10 percent of 407 executives responding to the quarterly
survey of regional business
confidence said the local economy was in better shape
than it was six months ago, while 53 percent
said conditions had worsened.
At the same time, only a minority of executives foresaw
a quick recovery. About 40 percent said
they expected the regional economy to be better in six
months, whereas 60 percent said they
predicted the business climate would stay the same or
get worse.
( full story to be posted at www.leasingnews.org
)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NAELB Regional Meeting, Marina del Rey, California ---Gerry
Egan, President
Thanks for asking about the National Association of Equipment
Leasing
Brokers Regional Meeting held in Marina del Rey, California
last weekend. It was a great success.
In spite of the area's first big rain in many, many months,
over 125 people turned out for the
one-day event and the reception that preceded it the night
before. It's
amazing how some great hors d'oeuvres and free drinks
will bring out a
leasing crowd! We were very pleased to see so many of
our members and to
meet the large number of guests that came. Attendees came
from as far away
as Boston and Buffalo, and from Victoria, BC, north of
the border.
Saturday's meeting started with a satirical look at the
lease process.
Fortunately, by having the meeting in the Los Angeles
area, Chairperson Rick
Wilbur had available the largest pool of highly talented
writers, directors
and actors in the whole world for this production. For
some odd reason,
though, he chose not to use any of them.
Instead, the Lessee, Willie Cheatum, of the WC Company,
was played by Bob
Teichman; the Vendor, Slick Billy, the owner of AFB (Anything
For a Buck)
Video was played by Bob Bell; the Broker, Shotgun Sammy/Sally
was played by
Mike Meacher, [understudy for Ginny Young who was unable
to appear following
an automobile accident the day before ---we hope she's
doing fine, now]; and
the Funder, Ned Nickpick, Chief Credit Officer of Neverfund
Financial
Services, was played by Ken Goodman. Principal writing
credit, (or blame),
goes, I believe, to Mr. Goodman.
The performance was ...well I think it's certainly fair
to say it was a
memorable performance! Along the way it managed to poke
jabs at the NAELB
and such dubious leasing luminaries as both you and me,
Kit, along with Sean
Wheeler, CMC, and many, many others. From amid the laughter
and heckling
emerged a good-natured look at some of the idiosyncrasies
of what we all do
for a living.
There was plenty of time throughout the day for networking
and visiting with
the funders who had tables set up around the meeting area.
Morning
educational programs included sessions by NAELB Board
Member, John
Winchester about developing relationships with local bank
sources and by
yours truly about finding business in your own back yard.
Both rooms were
packed. I heard nothing but great things about John's
presentation and
having worked with him before, I know his attendees went
home with solid
practical advice and direction. My own session also seemed
well received,
Kit, but, as you know, I'm much too modest to claim that
it was the
life-changing event for attendees that it probably was!!!
You'll have to
ask them!!!
After lunch, Rick/Rich Viola, (he seemed to be having
an identity crisis
that day ---ask him about it!), of Republic Leasing; Ted
Brownrigg, of
Financial Pacific; Gary Souverein, of Pawnee Leasing;
and Brad Peterson, of
Manifest each shared their views of the near term future
for our business.
Continued defense against fraud was a common theme as
was funding
efficiencies. Following the panel's presentations, attendees
at each table
discussed their reactions and ideas and identified a spokesperson
to present
the table's findings. That, in turn, stimulated another
round of
discussions and questions from and for the panel. All
in all, it was an
open, though-provoking and very helpful session. There
were lots of
favorable comments.
More networking and another cocktail party closed the
day. It was a fun and
informative day and a big success. I'm sorry you weren't
able to be there
in person, Kit. Hopefully, you will be next time.
Gerry Egan
President
NAELB
President
TecSource, Inc.
5621 Departure Drive, Suite 113
Raleigh, NC 27616
Phone: 919-790-1266
Fax: 919-790-2262
E-Mail: mailto:GerryEgan@ForEquipmentLeasing.com
Internet: http://www.ForEquipmentLeasing.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
############################ #################
Preferred Broker Solutions Announces their First Release
of CapitalStream Advantage.
Seattle, WA - Leasing industry's top software solution
delivers new improvements and stability on
any Windows(r) platform.
Preferred Broker Solutions, a Seattle based company that
has undertaken and mastered the
development and support of CapitalStream Advantage, today
announced their first major release of
the replacement program to System 1 Software version 2.5.
CapitalStream Advantage version 1.3.2x includes many improvements
that enable leasing professionals
to facilitate lease transactions. Now the leasing industry
can operate in any Windows environment
and conduct electronic UCC filing, with this latest desktop
version from Preferred Broker
Solutions.
"We have been working on the program for the past
six months, cleaning up the original code and
adding some must needed improvements based on our customer's
feedback," said Jim Buckles, owner of
Preferred Broker Solutions. "The program is now very
stable for all Windows platforms including
Windows 98, Millennium Edition, NT, 2000 and XP".
In addition to establishing stability within the Advantage
program, the 1.3.2x release marks the
completion of electronic UCC filing via UCCDirect Services
(http://www.uccdirect.com). "This
feature has been on CapitalStream's development roadmap
for some time and we're pleased to see this
feature to completion," said Buckles, "we're
looking forward to a great relationship with the good
people at UCC Direct Services."
The release of CapitalStream Advantage 1.3.2x addresses
the increasing demands of today's leasing
professional. With CapitalStream Advantage, System 1 Software
2.5 users can enjoy long-awaited
functionality now that Preferred Broker Solutions is responsible
for the development and support of
the program. "Our mission has been to deliver products
and offer support to the extreme best
interest of our customers," said Buckles, "We
want to keep this program easy to use and only add
features that the leasing industry needs, to be more efficient
and successful."
Preferred Broker solutions is laying the groundwork for
CapitalStream Advantage version 2.0, which
is slated for release in early 2003. Features will include
email document delivery, broadcast
emailing, enhanced contact management, full screen editing,
drag and drop document tracking, and
further
transaction integration with funding sources, and more.
About Jim Buckles and Preferred Broker Solutions
Jim Buckles has been involved in the Broker / Lessor community
since his days at System 1 Software
/ CapitalStream from 1997 - 2001. He was responsible for
the implementation and training of all
the company's software and solutions.
In 2001, he started Preferred Broker Solutions to focus
solely on the System 1 / Advantage customer
base and to offer the best possible support for that program
and continue its advancement.
Jim is also co-owner of ELBTools http://www.elbtools.com,
a division of Blue Denham, LLC, which
manufactures a web front end Calculator, Quoting Tool
and Electronic Credit Application that
integrates with the Advantage program, marketed under
the name "alaQuote". This program is sold
exclusively through Preferred Broker Solutions.
For more information, contact:
Jim Buckles
Preferred Broker Solutions
jim@pbs4u.com
(866) 352-8665 Phone
(435) 514-3787 Fax
#### ############################### #########################
.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alexa Ranks Leasing News/Association Web Sites
11/08/02 10/08/02
WEBSITE
NAME
55,943 54,173
www.aba.com
American Bankers Association
62,389 55,884
www.monitordaily.com
Monitor Daily
107,882 129,618
www.leasingnews.org
Leasing News
129,362 160,825
www.nacha.org
The Electronic Payments Association
146,684 136,713
www.elaonline.com
Equipment Leasing Association
221,535 376,441
www.cfa.com
Commercial Finance Association
253,924 NO
DATA www.leasingtoday.com
Leasing Today
275,600 331,318
www.us-banker.com
U.S.Banker
313,250 1,503,750
www.leaselawyer.com
Lease Lawyer
426,831 481,846
www.uael.org
United Assoc.. of Equipment Leasing
484,685 1,731,357
www.intra.net
Info Technology Resellers Association
504,682 344,384
www.executivecaliber.ws
Executive Caliber
630,057 3,483,887
www.naelb.org
Nat. Assoc. Equip Leasing Brokers
714,278 1,835,021
www.clpfoundation.org
CLP Foundation
721,656 480,054
www.elessors.com
eLessors Networking Association
813,755 125,335
www.ibaa.org
Ind. Community Bankers of America
926,386 261,760
www.iicl.org
Inst. of International Container Lessors
931,466 672,902
www.nvla.org
National Vehicle Leasing Association
1,008,733 908,412
www.pblaw.com/newsletters/bln/
Biz Leasing News
1,075,452 546,828
www.leasefoundation.org
Equip/Leasing & Fin. Fnd
1,279,945 1,517,270 www.eael.org
Eastern Assoc.of Equipment Leasing
1,966,621 1,994,892 www.nationalfunding.org
National Funding Assoc.
3,299,123 2,302,496 www.mael.org
Mid-America Assoc. of Equip Lessors
3,748,750 1,791,404 www.aglf.org
Assoc. of Gov Leasing and Financing
Quarter trends are more significant than one month to
another month. The overall trends viewed by
going to www.alexa.com,
typing in the name of the website, and then clicking on
trends will give an
indication if the site is rising in getting more hits,
rising in the ranking, as the lower the
number, the better the score.
To participate in this, you should download the free Alexa
toolbar:
http://download.alexa.com/alexa65/startpage.html?p=Dest_W_g_40_B1
"Ranking: Previously we based our rankings on page
views... all page views made on almost all Alexa
services were counted, compiled over a 3 month period
and ranked. Now, we've gotten a little
smarter. Multiple page views made by the same user are
discarded (no more spoofing!) and only
validated Toolbar page turns will be used. Also, and this
is totally new for us, we are using Reach
(total number of unique users) as part of our ranking
calculation. Based on this new information,
we calculate a "geometric mean" for Reach Rank
and Page View Rank to determine our new Traffic
Rank. We have a more detailed explanation available for
those who must know. "
For more information about how Alexa ranks websites, please
go to:
http://pages.alexa.com/prod_serv/traffic_learn_more.html?p=DestNew_W_t_40_M1
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our
First "Display Ad" at www.leasingnews.org
|
COMPUTER
SALES INTERNATIONAL, INC.
St. Louis, Missouri
has
acquired
PANTHUS
LEASING GmbH
Frankfurt, Germany
The
undersigned initiated this transaction and served
as exclusive financial advisor to a major stakeholder
in Panthus Leasing GmbH.
Kropschot
Financial Services
116
Estuary Drive
Vero Beach, FL. 32963
(772)234-4544
309
Windfern Court
Millersville, Maryland 21108
(410)729-1800
Advisors
in Mergers, Acquisitions and Corporate Finance
|
(now on line at www.leasingnews.org)
#### ########################################
Synovus and United Financial Merger Update
COLUMBUS, Ga.--Synovus (NYSE:SNV), the Columbus, Georgia-based
diverse financial services company,
and United Financial Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq:UFHI) today
announced that their previously announced
merger agreement has been amended to reflect that Synovus
will issue 2,268,167 shares of its Common
Stock and $34,000,000 in cash for all the outstanding
common stock and preferred stock convertible
into common stock of United Financial.
An additional 215,277 shares have been allocated for UFHI's
option holders, bringing the total
number of Synovus Shares to 2,483,444 for all of UFHI's
common stock and common stock equivalents
outstanding. Each share of United Financial Common Stock
will be exchanged for either .8021 shares
of Synovus Common Stock, $16.47 of cash or a combination
thereof. The transaction is expected to
close during the first quarter of 2003.
In September, Synovus announced the acquisition of $408
million asset United Financial Holdings,
Inc. in St. Petersburg, Florida; the parent company of
United Bank, United Bank of the Gulf Coast,
United Trust Company and EPW Investment Management, Inc.
Headquartered in St. Petersburg, United
Bank operates seven full-service banking centers in Pinellas
County, Florida and has begun
construction on an eighth location in Clearwater. United
Bank of the Gulf Coast is based in
Sarasota with one office and plans to open another in
Manatee County by year-end. These will be
Synovus' first bank locations along the growing central
west coast of Florida.
Both United Bank and United Bank of the Gulf Coast will
operate under their existing names,
management teams and local boards of directors.
About Synovus
Synovus (NYSE:SNV), with more than $18 billion in assets,
provides integrated financial services
including banking, financial management, insurance, mortgage
and leasing services through 39
affiliate banks and other Synovus offices in Georgia,
Alabama, South Carolina, Florida and
Tennessee; and electronic payment processing through an
81 percent stake in TSYS (NYSE:TSS), the
world's largest third-party processor of international
payments. Synovus is No. 5 on FORTUNE
magazine's list of "The 100 Best Companies To Work
For" in 2002. See Synovus on the Web at
www.synovus.com.
CONTACT:
Synovus
Aimee Davis, 706/644-0528
or
Patrick A. Reynolds, 706/649-4973
or
United Financial
Susan Blackburn, 727/824-8755
or
C. Peter Bardin, 727/824-8752
#### ####################################################
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Banks make lots of money off 'free checking' accounts
Bounced check charges, other fees, services are big sources
of revenue
Riva D. Atlas, New York Times
Banks are aggressively promoting free checking accounts.
But some customers are discovering that
free often comes at a price.
While customers no longer have to pay fees if their balances
drop below a minimum, many who open
these accounts often end up paying more in other charges,
like those for bouncing checks or using
ATMs.Without a minimum balance requirement, people may
be careless about keeping enough in their
accounts to avoid bouncing checks.
"The fact is, free checking accounts don't turn out
to be free for a lot of people," said Gary
Stein, a partner at the Capital Performance Group, a Washington
consulting firm focused on banking.
"Banks make a lot of money off these accounts."
Banks make money from free checking customers in three
ways. Because such accounts generally pay no
interest, they provide a cheap source of money for the
banks, which can then reinvest the money
elsewhere. The banks also use the accounts to attract
new customers who will then buy their other
products, from insurance to mortgages. Banks also charge
many fees, particularly for covering
bounced checks.
( full story to be posted at www.leasingnews.org)
where.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
## ########################################################
CIT SBL Signs Exclusive Lending Agreement with Pearle
Vision; Nation's Top Volume SBA Lender To
Provide Loans to Franchisees
LIVINGSTON, N.J., -- CIT Small Business
Lending Corporation (SBL), a subsidiary of CIT Group Inc.
(NYSE: CIT), and the
nation's number one SBA lender, today announced an agreement
with Pearle
Vision to be the preferred lender for its franchise system.
"CIT's non-bank lending program has helped all types
of medical
professionals build their businesses through strategic
use of various loan
products," said David Bell, national account manager
for CIT Small Business
Lending. "Our extensive experience working with optometrists
and our
knowledge of the industry, will assist Pearle Vision in
its growth strategy."
"As we continue to aggressively build our brand,
we need a reliable
financial partner that has the capabilities to provide
the necessary financing
to fuel that growth," said Bill Vaughan, Director
of Franchise Development, of
Pearle Vision. "CIT offered us great flexibility,
industry knowledge and
expertise as well as a solid reputation in serving companies
like Pearle
Vision."
A subsidiary of Cole National Corporation since 1996,
Pearle Vision has
one of the largest networks of optical retail outlets
in the world, with
850 locations throughout the US, Puerto Rico, Canada and
Europe.
About CIT Small Business Lending Corporation (SBL)
CIT Small Business Lending Corporation, a subsidiary of
CIT Group Inc.,
offers Small Business Administration (SBA) loans to finance
business
acquisitions, owner-occupied real estate purchases and
franchise start-ups
though a network of field representatives. The nation's
top volume SBA
lender, CIT Small Business Lending has been designated
a "Preferred Lender" by
the SBA and can provide quick credit decisions and loan
closings. The
company's website and online SBA loan application are
located at
http://www.smallbizlending.com.
About CIT
CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT), a leading commercial and consumer
finance
company, provides clients with financing and leasing products
and advisory
services. Founded in 1908, CIT has nearly $50 billion
in assets under
management and possesses the financial resources, industry
expertise and
product knowledge to serve the needs of clients across
30 industries. CIT
holds leading positions in vendor financing, U.S. factoring,
equipment and
transportation financing, Small Business Administration
loans, and asset-based
and credit-secured lending. CIT, with its principal offices
in New York City
and Livingston, New Jersey, has approximately 6,000 employees
in locations
throughout North America, Europe, Latin and South America,
and the Pacific
Rim. For more information, visit http://www.cit.com.
#### ###########################################
Willis Lease Finance Reports Profitable Third Quarter;
Portfolio Utilization Rate Improves to 85.6%
in September
SAUSALITO, Calif.---Willis Lease Finance Corporation (Nasdaq:WLFC),
a leading lessor of commercial
jet engines, today reported improving utilization rates
and higher lease revenue helped the company
maintain profitability in the third quarter and first
nine months of 2002. Pretax earnings were
$833,000 before the previously announced one-time charge
of $781,000 relating to the repayment of
the company's prior warehouse credit facility. Net income
was $33,000 for the third quarter of
2002, and $1.6 million, or $0.18 per diluted share, for
the first nine months of 2002. The company
earned $1.8 million, or $0.20 per diluted share, in the
third quarter of 2001, and $6.5 million, or
$0.73 per diluted share, in the first nine months of 2001.
Current Market
"It's good to see our revenue trending up again,"
said Charles F. Willis, President and CEO. "In
the third quarter we had a healthy revenue gain of 3.3%,
or $445,000, versus the second quarter of
this year." This improvement followed three consecutive
quarters of declining revenue and is mainly
due to the higher portfolio utilization rate achieved
during the quarter. The portfolio utilization
rate increased to 85.6% at the end of September 2002 compared
to 80.0% at the end of June 2002. "We
made substantial progress during the quarter toward reducing
the number of off-lease engines. In
fact, September was the best month in our entire history
from an engine remarketing standpoint. We
closed more new leases and lease extensions than any previous
month ever. I'm proud of this
achievement, which was made possible through the hard
work and resourcefulness of everyone on our
team.
"Our profitability in the third quarter, before the
one-time charge from refinancing our warehouse
credit facility, was relatively consistent with the two
previous quarters this year on a pretax
basis before gains on sale. This accomplishment is very
significant given the continuing
challenging conditions in the aviation industry,"
Willis continued.
"More and more air carriers around the world are
showing improved financial results and many are
saying they will be profitable for 2002," said Donald
A. Nunemaker, Chief Operating Officer. "The
strength in the European aviation market continues to
be a solid base of support for our engine
leasing activities, with European carriers accounting
for almost half of our revenues this year.
China and the Asia Pacific region are steadily growing
in importance. The domestic market, however,
continues to be challenging. Our exposure in the U.S.
is relatively small. Only 17% of our 2002
revenues have come from U.S. carriers, and we have no
exposure to either US Air or United."
During the third quarter of 2002, WLFC spent $9.1 million
on additions to its lease portfolio
bringing its total portfolio additions to $35.8 million
year-to-date. "The majority of our
equipment purchases this year have been in purchase/leaseback
transactions, which continue to offer
new opportunities for building recurring revenues and
expanding relationships with customers,"
Willis commented.
