Bulgarian leasing companies' claims under financial and operational leases have increased by an annual 12% to 4.04 billion levs at the end of 2018, the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) said. Compared to the end of September, claims were 2.2% higher, BNB said in a statement on Friday. Financial lease claims totalled 3.81 billion levs at the end of December, up by an annual 11.3% and 2.2% higher compared to the end of September. Operational lease claims increased by an annual 25.5% to 225.7 million levs at the end of 2018, and were 2.4% higher compared to the end of the third quarter. The assets of the companies operating in Bulgaria's leasing sector totalled 4.82 billion levs at the end of 2018, up from 4.44 billion levs a year earlier.