The nation’s federally insured credit unions (FICUs) grew total assets by $75 billion, or 5.4%, to a total of $1.45 trillion and saw net income rise 25.8% during the 12 months ending Dec. 31, 2018, according to fourth-quarter call report data released Wednesday by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA).
Loans outstanding were up $86 billion, or 9%, to a total of $1 trillion, while insured shares and deposits grew $53 billion, or 4.9%, to a total of $1.14 trillion by the end of 2018, NCUA reported.
In other key results:
- The delinquency rate declined to 71 basis points in the fourth quarter, down from 81 bp one year ago. The net charge-off ratio was 58 bp, down from 60 bp one year earlier.
- Net income grew 25.8% in 2018, growing $2.7 billion to $13 billion at an annual rate in the fourth quarter from the same period one year ago.
- FICUs had a net worth ratio of 11.3%, up from 10.95% from a year ago.
- Return on average assets was 92 bp over the year, up from 78 bp the same time one year ago. The median return on average assets was 57 bp, up 19 bp from the fourth quarter of 2017.
- The number of federally insured credit unions declined 198 to a total of 5,375 in 2018. NCUA said the decline is consistent with long-running trends. Of those 5,375, 3,376 were federal credit unions and 1,999 were FICUs.
- Total members in FICUs rose 4.9 million over the year, pushing total membership to 116.2 million.
NCUA said credit unions with assets of at least $1 billion reported the strongest growth in loans, membership, and net worth over the year ending in the fourth quarter of 2018; this also is consistent with long-running trends, it noted.
There were 308 federally insured credit unions with assets of at least $1 billion at year-end 2018, up from 287 the previous year. These 308 credit unions held $957.8 billion in assets, or 66% of total system assets. Credit unions in this category reported loan growth of 12.9%, membership growth of 9.8% and growth in net worth of 12.9%.