DBRS Releases March 2012 Monthly Canadian ABS Report

DBRS has today released its Monthly Canadian ABS Report, which provides an overview of the Canadian term asset-backed securities (ABS) market for the month ending March 31, 2012. The report provides detailed information on the $30.1 billion market, with disclosure on issuance volumes, asset composition and 12-month transaction performance histories. New transactions and rating actions that took place during and after the reporting period are also summarized in the report.

The total outstanding amount in the Canadian ABS market was $30.1 billion, down 1.0% from the previous month’s outstanding amount of $30.4 billion. The decrease was a combination of runoff and the repayment of several notes within CHIP Mortgage Trust, Canadian Capital Auto Receivables Asset Trust II (CCARAT II) and CIT Canada Equipment Receivables Trust II (CCERT II). Regular runoff amounted to $262.4 million.

After two straight months of active issuance from credit card issuers, March was subdued with zero new issuance. There were four notes discontinued in the month: CHIP Mortgage Trust, Series 2007-2 Medium Term Notes and Series 2007-2B Subordinated Medium Term Notes; CCARAT II 2010-1, Auto Loan Receivables-Backed Notes, Series 2010-1, Class A-2; and CCERT II Series 2009-1, Series 2009-1, Class A-2 Notes.

Credit cards remain the dominant asset class within the ABS market, with 77.6% market share, up from 76.8% in February 2012. Auto loans and auto leases stood at 14.5%, down slightly from 15.0% in the previous month, followed by equipment finance, down slightly to 2.0% from 2.1% in February. Changes in the ABS market composition continue to favour consumer lending, with credit card and auto loan/lease programs accounting for approximately 92.0% of the ABS market, up from 77.9% year over year.

Notes:
All figures are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted.