2010

S&P praises Avanti Finance & Asset Finance's management of the Crown guarantee period

"Two of the smaller and lower profile finance companies, Avanti Finance and Asset Finance, were standouts in managing their way through the tricky waters of the Crown retail deposit guarantee scheme, according to international credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s"

Full article available at
http://www.interest.co.nz/news/sp-praises-avanti-finance-asset-finances-management-crown-guarantee-period

NZ Herald (article): Kirk Hope - Why NZ needs to fill the funding gap

For some time the analysis of the finance company failures has focused on the immediate and devastating impact on investors, and the necessity for tougher regulation - and rightly so.

However, some recent articles on the sector have started to touch on another significant consequence of the failures, that is, the large gap they have left in the funding market, and the potential implications for the economy...

Asset Finance sponsors the Taupo 1000 offroad race in 2011

Asset Finance is once again sponsoring the Southern Hemisphere's longest and most gruelling offroad race, the Taupo 1000.

Taupo 1000 Logo

Asset Finance's sponsorship of next year's event continues their long history of support for the event. The race is held bi-annually in the Kaingaroa Forest, 60km from Taupo towards Napier on the Napier/Taupo highway.

Asset Finance confirms return to profitability

Whakatane, Jul. 15, 2010 — Asset Finance Ltd, a Whakatane based consumer and small business finance company, today announced a pre tax profit for the year to 31 March 2010 of $659,408 compared to a pre tax loss of $367,299 for same period last year.

The loss in 2009 was a result of higher than normal loan write offs and impairment provisions combined with a reduction in loan income as the company ran its loan book down to match the reduction in depositor funding as a consequence of the problems facing the finance company sector at that time.

Going it alone… and making great progress

Whakatane, Apr. 12, 2010 — In September last year Asset Finance made the decision to voluntarily withdraw from the Government’s Deposit Guarantee Scheme and it is finding that its exit from the scheme (in November of that year) has not affected its ability to attract new investors. In fact, Asset Finance is finding it easier to do this, thanks partly to its small size but also the greater clarity it can give its depositors around the investments it offers.