Five Credit Unions Pay $7 Million in Special Dividends

Five credit unions from the Atlantic to the Pacific have announced payments of $7.3 million in special dividends.

The payments represented about $23 for each of their 309,555 members. It also equaled 0.15% of their $4.8 billion in average assets, compared with their combined return on average assets of 0.42% for the 12 months ending Sept. 30.

Firefighters First Credit Union of Los Angeles ($1.7 billion, 52,192 members) announced Monday that it paid members $2.1 million on Dec. 31 as its Annual Profit Sharing distribution and additional products bonus. The amount represented about $40 per member and 13 bps of its 12-month ROA of 0.51%.

Firefighters FCU’s news release said this year’s distribution brings total profits returned to members to over $50 million since 1981, which it said honors its 85-year legacy of “firefighters helping firefighters.” Its members include career firefighters and their families in 741 fire departments nationwide.

“Firefighters have been on the frontline of the COVID-19 response,” President/CEO Dixie Abramian said. “In 2020, they also contended with one of the worst wildfire seasons in recent history. We are heartened by how much firefighters give to their communities.”

The other four credit unions were:

• The Tennessee Credit Union of Nashville ($362.2 million, 24,571 members) paid members $3.5 million in December as member rewards dividends. The amount represented about $142 per member and 103 bps of TTCU’s 12-month ROA of -0.06%.
• PAHO/WHO Federal Credit Union of Washington, D.C. ($248.6 million, 5,919 members) paid members $285,000 this month as its 2020 bonus dividend. The amount represented about $48 per member and 12 bps of its 12-month ROA of 0.04%.
• Scott Credit Union of Edwardsville, Ill., about 25 miles northeast of St. Louis ($1.4 billion, 145,753 members) paid members $700,000 in December as a bonus dividend and loan interest rebate. The amount represented about $5 per member and 5 bps of its 12-month ROA of 0.27%.
• Charter Oak Credit Union of Waterford, Conn. ($1.4 billion, 81,120 members) paid members $674,000 in December as annual $100 cash bonuses. The amount represented about $8 per member and 5 bps of its 12-month ROA of 0.65%.

So far this season, CU Times has tallied 30 credit unions ($76.5 billion, 4.3 million members) that have announced $200.3 million in special dividends. The amount represented about $46 per member and 28 bps of their 12-month ROA of 0.93%.