Strong leasing and rental activity in the transport and construction industries has driven earnings growth for small business equipment finance company Silver Chef.The company said in its half-year financial report, which was released yesterday, that it expects these conditions to continue in the June half.Silver Chef reported net profit of A$10.3 million for the six months to December - an increase of 45 per cent over the previous corresponding period. Return on equity was 21.8 per cent.Revenue was up 21 per cent to $100.7 million and the value of rental assets and lease receivable rose 33 per cent to $446.8 million.The GoGetta division, which was launched in 2008 and which provides equipment rental finance to "other industries", including transport and construction, increased pre-tax profit by 65.8 per cent to $8 million.The hospitality division, which provides equipment rental finance to restaurants and other parts of the hospitality industry, increased pre-tax profit by 29.7 per cent to $17.7 million.The fledgling New Zealand and Canadian businesses contributed a combined $6.2 million to total revenue during the half - up from $3.1 million in the previous corresponding period.The high bad debt charge that was a feature of the company's 2014/15 result was up again - rising 8.9 per cent over the previous corresponding period to $2.3 million. The company's view is that provisioning for doubtful debts and impairments has been abnormally low in recent years and that it is now "normalising" in a range of two per cent to three per cent (bad debts to rental income).During the half the company funded 54 per cent of rental asset acquisitions using internally generated cash flows. This was down on prior periods, reflecting the strong growth in GoGetta.The company executed a new $100 million five-bank syndicated debt facility during the half, which it said would give it room for growth.