Third-Quarter Results Taper Off for Top 10 Credit Unions

The nation’s 10 largest credit unions’ earnings were strong in the third quarter, but not quite as good as the second-quarter record as loan loss provisions once again became an expense.

The Top 10 credit unions earned a collective $1.2 billion in the three months ending Sept. 30, or an annualized 1.38% return on their $360.9 billion in average assets. ROA was down from 1.79% in the second quarter and up from 0.60% in 2020’s third quarter.

One good sign was in net interest margins. They have been falling for federally-insured credit unions since the second quarter of 2019, but they rose slightly for the Top 10 from the second to the third quarter.

Net interest margins were still lower than they were a year ago. Net interest before loan loss provisions was 2.89% of average assets for the third quarter, up 7 basis points from the second quarter and down 15 bps from a year ago.

Fee income was stable at 0.30% of average assets in the third quarter.

Other operating income fell. It was 0.72% in the third quarter, down 17 bps from the second quarter and down 27 bps from a year ago.

Pay and benefits was 1.30%, down 4 bps from the second quarter and unchanged from a year earlier.

Loan loss provisions were again the big swing factor. They were a bare 0.03% expense in the third quarter, compared with an expense of 0.60% in 2020’s third quarter and income of 0.24% in this year’s second quarter, as many credit unions reclaimed overly heavy provision expenses made in 2020.

Total loan originations were $50 billion, up 4.4% from the second quarter and up 26.4% from a year ago.

Residential real estate originations were $17.7 billion in the quarter, down from a record $18.2 billion in the second quarter, but up from $15.4 billion a year ago.

Non-real estate production, which includes auto loans, personal loans and credit cards, was a record $30.9 billion, up from $28.5 billion in the second quarter and $23.7 billion a year ago.

Commercial lending showed an especially strong gain. The Top 10 produced $18.2 billion in real estate-backed commercial loans in the third quarter.

The category is small and tends to swing wildly, but for these credit unions the volume has generally increased quarter to quarter since the spring of 2020. The exception was a 3% drop from the fourth quarter to the first quarter, but that was followed by a doubling in the second quarter. The third quarter volume was up another 15% from that record.

Together, the Top 10 had $366.1 billion in assets and 23.1 million members as of Sept. 30, accounting for about 18% of the movement’s assets and members. Their results tend to be higher than other credit unions, but generally follow the same trend.

Some key results for each of the Top 10 were:

1. Navy Federal Credit Union, Vienna, Va. ($151 billion, 10.9 million members) had ROA of 1.77%, compared with 2.52% in the second quarter and 0.36% a year ago. Total originations were $22.9 billion, up 13.1%.

2. State Employees’ Credit Union, Raleigh, N.C. ($50.9 billion, 2.6 million members) had ROA of 1.12%, compared with 1.18% in the second quarter and 0.38% a year ago. Total originations were $3.8 billion, up 36.5%.

3. PenFed Credit Union, Tysons, Va. ($29.7 billion, 2.4 million members) had ROA of 1.24%, compared with 1.10% in the second quarter and 0.72% a year ago. Total originations were $9.6 billion, up 114%.

4. BECU, Tukwila, Wash. ($29.6 billion, 1.3 million members) had ROA of 0.97%, compared with 0.93% in the second quarter and 1.26% a year ago. Total originations were $2.9 billion, up 32.7%.

5. SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union, Santa Ana, Calif. ($26.4 billion, 1.2 million members) had ROA of 0.76%, compared with 0.61% in the second quarter and 0.67% a year ago. Total originations were $2 billion, up 26.7%.

6. Golden 1 Credit Union, Sacramento, Calif. ($18.1 billion, 1.1 million members) had ROA of 0.78%, compared with 1.09% in the second quarter and 0.47% a year ago. Total originations were $1.5 billion, down 8%.

7. America First Federal Credit Union, Riverdale, Utah ($16.4 billion, 1.2 million members) had ROA of 1.84%, compared with 1.89% in the second quarter and 1.01% a year ago. Total originations were $2.7 billion, up 17%.

8. First Tech Federal Credit Union, San Jose ($14.7 billion, 652,828 members) had ROA of 0.37%, compared with 2.21% in the second quarter and 1.37% a year ago. Total originations were $1.7 billion, up 20.2%.

9. Alliant Credit Union, Chicago ($14.7 billion, 631,700 members) had ROA of 1.64%, compared with 2.09% in the second quarter and 1.19% a year ago. Total originations were $1.3 billion, up 1.9%.

10. Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union, San Antonio ($14.6 billion, 1 million members) had ROA of 1.35%, compared with 1.61% in the second quarter and 1.32% a year ago. Total originations were $1.6 billion, down 2.1%.

Callahan & Co. will present estimates of results for all credit unions at its quarterly “Trendwatch” webinar Nov. 12. The NCUA will post third-quarter results in early December.