The biggest significance of the city investment platform "marriage" financial leasing is to reduce the debt ratio.
By leasing instead of part of the loan, the curve from the bank to obtain funds to alleviate the funding problems and debt risk of urban investment projects.
However, urban investment projects generally have a long cycle, large investment, slow return, so that there is an obvious term mismatch between capital revenue and expenditure; and overall dependence on ***, policy changes directly affect the default rate, these are the risks that finance leasing has to face.
The city investment platform was born because of *** financing, but under the background of strong supervision, tight financing and "de-**ification", the days of the city investment platform are getting worse and worse.
In particular, banks, trusts and other financing channels are blocked, urban investment platforms have to look for new financing outlets.
The industry said that this year, the financing pressure of the urban investment platform is very obvious, "the goal is to be able to borrow money first, the cost is no longer the main consideration." Therefore, the assets out of the table, the funds to the account quickly, the higher cost of financial leasing has become the city investment platform "guest".
Higher costs
Since 2014, the state has issued a series of documents to regulate the urban investment financing platform, on the one hand, trying to divest the financing platform credit and local *** credit relationship, so that the financing platform to the market; on the other hand, prohibit the *** institutions for the financing platform to provide guarantees or related land mortgages in an attempt to curb the incremental increase in local *** hidden debt, to resolve the risk of local debt.
However, the industry analysis, although the "de-***ization" is the trend, but the position of the urban investment platform is difficult to replace in the short term.
In the context of the tightening of the regulatory and financing environment, some of the platforms with weaker financial strength may have liquidity constraints, and "finding money" is still the top priority of the urban investment platforms.
In the past, urban investment platforms mainly obtained construction funds through bank loans and debt issuance, with relatively low financing costs, and did not treat finance leasing well.
But now, the local debt risk is gradually exposed, the bank credit channel is blocked, "to find a project and money through the leasing company will thank God."
At the same time, the attitude of financial leasing is also changing.
"The funds for financial leasing mainly come from banks, even if there is a part of their own funds, it is unlikely that all of them will be used on the urban investment platform." Shanghai, a financial leasing company responsible for said, the bank on the urban investment platform credit constraints likewise transmitted to the financial leasing industry, the leasing company will be on the urban investment platform to pick and choose, from the original county to the municipal or even provincial level, and has a GDP and other indicators required.
"Since 2017, the cost of financing for urban investment platforms has been going up, and the requirements have become more stringent." A trust company in East China said that according to the different project ratings, the main rating AA and debt rating AAA platform financing costs are relatively low, other project financing costs are relatively high, some local state-owned capital to pursue high yield, ignoring the high risk, this kind of credit risk, historical default rate of local urban investment platform has been included in the company's prohibition of financing blacklist.
The aforementioned person in charge of financial leasing told the new financial reporter that the interest rate of the urban investment project is mainly based on the level of the bank's credit interest rate to the financial leasing, the bank's loan interest rate to the financial leasing is usually between 4% and 6%, the state-owned financial leasing is between 6% and 8%, and the private financial leasing is more than 7%.
And the leasing company on this basis at least will add 4% to 6% of the interest rate to balance the risk, at the same time the more to the remote areas of the west, the less room for bargaining, the higher the cost.
The reporter noted that the urban investment platform through the sale and leaseback financing costs more than bank loans, debt issuance, trust.
Specifically, the urban investment platform to obtain bank loan interest rates at about 7%, but the bank has been significantly reduced to the urban investment platform project loans, liquidity loans are limited; urban investment debt is currently the average issuance of coupon rate of about 6%, and in some areas up to 8%; the cost of funds of the trust loan of about 8%; and financial leasing financing costs are in the range of 8% to 12%, and the other financial leasing The comprehensive cost is generally above 10%, and even reaches 14% to 16% in remote areas.
Comprehensive view, urban investment platform differentiation is obvious, on the one hand, the southwest, northwest and other remote areas of the urban investment platform investors less; on the other hand, the north, Guangzhou and Shenzhen and other financial strength of the urban investment platform is still sought after, like the Shanghai Pudong New Area, Beijing Chaoyang District, and other economic conditions of the regional projects, financial leasing company itself is difficult to obtain.
Multi-channel credit
China's financial leasing started late, but the rapid development since 2008, the annual growth rate was once as high as 80% or more.
According to the statistics of China Leasing Alliance and Tianjin Binhai Financial Leasing Research Institute, as of the end of 2017, the total number of national financial leasing enterprises (excluding single project companies, branch companies, SPV companies, and companies acquiring overseas) was about 9,090, a year-on-year growth of 27.4%; and the contract balance was about RMB 6,060 billion, a year-on-year growth of 13.7%.
As a typical industry of financing, financial leasing started with equipment leasing and direct leasing, with obvious advantages in combining production and financing, but with the intensification of competition in the industry, "credit-like" modes, such as sale and leaseback, are prevalent.
Under this model, financial leasing companies mainly earn spreads, rather than service and management income.
According to the industry, there is a risk of misappropriation of the funds obtained by the enterprises under this model, which will cause losses to both parties in the transaction.
The interviewee said, at present, the financial leasing company and urban investment platform cooperation projects are almost all sale and leaseback mode, rarely direct leasing, of which the bank system financial leasing of urban investment projects accounted for about 20% to 30% of its total business.
At present, most of the newly raised funds for urban investment projects are still repaying the maturing liabilities.
In fact, the city investment platform "marriage" financial leasing, the biggest significance is to reduce the debt ratio.
By replacing some of the loans with financial leasing, the curve from the bank to obtain funds to alleviate the capital problems and debt risk of urban investment projects.
But urban investment projects are generally long cycle, large investment, slow return, so much so that there is an obvious term mismatch between capital revenue and expenditure, relying on borrowing new to repay the old to maintain liquidity; coupled with the overall dependence on the urban investment platform ***, the policy changes directly implicated in the default rate, which are the risks that finance leasing has to face.
"City investment platform usually on behalf of the *** market financing, once the default, its corresponding sewage pipe network, river, greening and other leasing subject matter simply can not be disposed of and realized, go through the legal process and social exposure is also very difficult to play a role in the time-consuming and costly, and the leasing company to put the funds generally come from the bank, the repayment of the pressure persists."
The leasing company is the only company in the world that can provide the financial leasing services. " In Ruiyue Financial Leasing (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. general manager Fang Zhiziang view, in order to reduce the risk of financial leasing handled by most of the urban investment projects introduced a guarantee mechanism, small platform financing must have a large platform to do the guarantee, such as a county platform financing + municipal platforms to guarantee, as well as equipment mortgages, land mortgages and other credit enhancement measures.
In February this year, the Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance issued "on further enhancing the ability of corporate bonds to serve the real economy to strictly guard against the risk of local debt notice" (the industry said "No. 194"), put forward the declaration of enterprises in the name of a variety of requirements or acceptance of the local *** and its subordinate departments for the behavior of its market-oriented financing
This means that *** no longer for the city investment project underwriting, urban investment platform should establish a market-oriented investment return mechanism, to achieve "who borrowed who return, risk-sharing".
The industry analyzed that after the introduction of the 194th, the urban investment platform corporate bond financing difficulties, the issue of interest rates rise, financial leasing as an alternative channel is expected to become the urban investment project "lifesaving straw".