Credit union loan, share growth continue, but at slower pace, 3Q report shows

Credit unions increased their assets, loans and insured shares and deposits during the 12 months ending Sept. 30, but they did so at a slower pace than in the 12 months ending in June, according to third-quarter call report data released Thursday by credit unions’ federal regulatory agency.

The data, released Thursday by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), shows credit union assets grew 5.6% to $1.44 trillion during the 12-month period ending Sept. 30. Loans outstanding rose 9.5% to a total of $1 trillion, and insured shares and deposits rose 4.8% to a total of $1.13 trillion. But the pace of growth was slower than during the 12 months ending June 30, when assets had grown 5.8%; loans had grown 9.8%; and insured shares and deposits had grown 5.2%.

*Net loans equals total loans ($1,026.2 billion) minus allowance for loan and lease losses ($9.1 billion). Numbers may not add up due to rounding. Source: NCUA

Just during the third quarter of this year – from July 1 through Sept. 30 – assets were up $10.8 million, or 0.8%; loans were up $24.1 million, or 2.4%; and insured shares and deposits were down $0.7 million, or 0.6%.

Membership in federally insured credit unions totaled 115.4 million as of Sept. 30, up 1.4 million from June 30; and up 5.8 million over the previous 12 months.

NCUA released the call report results Thursday afternoon. The report also shows:

  • The delinquency rate at federally insured credit unions was 67 basis points (bp) in the third quarter of 2018, down from 79bp one year earlier.
  • The net charge-off ratio was 57 bp, little changed from 56bp 12 months ago.
  • The loan-to-share ratio stood at 84.9% in the third quarter of 2018, up from 81.4% in the third quarter of 2017.
  • The credit union system’s net worth ratio was 11.21% in the third quarter of 2018, compared with 10.89% one year earlier.
  • Net income totaled $13.6 billion at an annual rate in the third quarter of 2018, up $3.1 billion, or 30%, from the same period a year ago.
  • The net interest margin for federally insured credit unions was $44 billion in the third quarter of 2018, or 3.1% of average assets. That compares with $39.5 billion, or 3% of average assets, in the third quarter of 2017.
  • The return on average assets for federally insured credit unions was 96bp over the year ending in the third quarter of 2018, up from 79bp in the third quarter of 2017. The median return on average assets across all federally insured credit unions was 60bp, up 21bp from the third quarter of 2017.
Source: NCUA

NCUA said the number of federally insured credit unions declined to 5,436 in the third quarter of 2018 from 5,642 in the third quarter of 2017; it said the year-over-year decline is consistent with long-running industry consolidation trends.

In the third quarter of 2018, there were 3,421 federal credit unions and 2,015 federally insured, state-chartered credit unions.

Quarterly Credit Union Data Summary (Third Quarter)