Credit unions in Idaho and Vermont showed the biggest surge in asset growth in the year ended Sept. 30, according to state figures from the end of the third quartered reported Wednesday by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA).
According to the NCUA report, Idaho had median asset growth of 8.3% (meaning, the agency said, that half of all federally insured credit unions in the state had asset growth at or above 8.3% percent and half had asset growth of 8.3 percent or less). Vermont came in second, with median asset growth of 6.2% at the year ended Sept. 30. Nationally, median assets growth was 2.9%, the report stated.
At the other end of the scale, the agency said, credit unions in the District of Columbia posted median asset loss of -1%. Assets grew slowest (at the median) in Louisiana (0.3%) and Arkansas (0.4%).
As for loans, Nevada and Oregon (at 12.3% and 11.8%, respectively) showed the fastest median growth rates; Wyoming and New Jersey (0.2% and 0.3%, respectively) were slowest. National median loan growth was 5% during the period, according to NCUA.
The agency said that 81% of credit unions across the country had positive net income during the first three quarters of 2017. All Nevada credit unions reported positive net income, and 97% of Oregon credit unions reported the same. The share of federally insured credit unions with positive net income was lowest in the District of Columbia (55%), followed by Arkansas and Delaware (both 67%).
Reflecting its net income reporting, Nevada credit unions showed highest annualized return on average assets (ROAA) during the first three quarters of the year, at 83 basis points; Vermont and Utah both clocked in with annualized ROAA of 73 bp for the same period. Credit unions in DC and Delaware showed the weakest annualized ROAA at 13 bp and 21 bp, respectively.
Nationally, the median annualized ROAA was 39 bp in the first nine months of 2017, up slightly from 37 bp in the first nine months of 2016.
Membership growth, NCUA pointedly noted, remains strongest in larger credit unions, stating that about 75% of credit unions with declining memberships had assets of less than $50 million. Overall, the NCUA report stated, 50% of federally insured credit unions had fewer members at the end of the third quarter of 2017 than a year earlier; median membership growth was negative in 22 states, the agency stated.
Arizona (at 2.5%) had the highest median membership growth rate over the year ending in the third quarter of 2017, NCUA stated, followed by Washington (2.4%). At the median, the agency stated, membership declined the most in the District of Columbia (-1.8%), followed by Pennsylvania (-1.2%).