Two credit unions had fourth-quarter losses: PenFed lost $22.3 million and Alliant lost $769,688, three others showed significant drops in income from a year earlier and five others showed drops from the third quarter.

In 2023’s fourth quarter, the Top 10 provisioned more aggressively, but their actual charge-offs were smaller. In this year’s fourth quarter, both increased substantially from the third quarter to the fourth quarter.

Their net charge-off rate was 1.88% for the fourth quarter, compared with 1.74% a year earlier, and 1.49% in the third quarter. Operating ROA, which substitute’s net charge-offs for provisions, tells the story: It was 0.59% in the fourth quarter, down from 0.80% a year earlier and 0.95%in the third quarter.

Even with heavy charge-offs, delinquency rates rose. Their delinquency rate stood at 1.61% on Dec. 31, up from 1.34% a year earlier and up from 1.48% three months earlier.

Besides expected credit losses, the other parts of income affecting results from the third quarter to the fourth quarter were overall flat revenue and rising overhead.

Net interest margins and fees improved by 12 basis points, but other operating income fell by 11 bps.

Employee pay and benefits rose by 3 bps and other overhead rose 6 bps.

Originations improved for residential real estate and commercial lending, but fell sharply for consumer loans. The category includes credit cards and personal loans, but the biggest factor is auto loans, which have had waning balances.

Overall originations were $29.8 billion, up 5.3% from a year earlier and up 2% from the previous quarter. Originations tend to be seasonal, so are best measured from a year earlier.

Fourth-quarter originations rose 50% to $10.9 billion for residential loans and rose 25% to $802.9 million for commercial loans from a year earlier.

The Top 10 originated $18.0 billion in consumer loans in the three months ending Dec. 31, down 11.3% from 2023’s fourth quarter. The only gains were reported by Mountain America (+18%) and Golden 1 (+4%). The biggest drops were at America First (-59%) and PenFed (-47%).

The balance sheet showed the pain is with auto lending. Total loan growth was 1.3% over the past year, with balances up 5.7% for credit cards and 4.9% for personal loans.

However, auto loan balances rose a bare 0.7% over 12 months to reach $71.7 billion at year’s end. Only Navy Federal (+9.8%) and Mountain America (+1.5%) showed gains. The worst drops were at PenFed (-28%) and Alliant (-18%).

CU Times analyzes the results for the 10 largest credit unions by assets each quarter to get a quick gauge of trends emerging as the NCUA posts Call Reports. They tend to have higher ROA, but other credit unions are usually sharing the same trends.

The lineup changed slightly. Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union (RBFCU) regained its No. 10 spot, which it had lost over the past three quarters to Suncoast. Past aggregate comparisons are revised to be consistent with the current Top 10.

The Top 10, along with their income and origination results, were:

1. Navy Federal Credit Union of Vienna, Va. ($180.8 billion, 14.3 million members), which had an ROA of 0.49% in the fourth quarter, compared with 0.32% a year earlier and 1.1% in the third quarter. Originations were $15.8 billion, up 10.3% from a year earlier and up 3.8% from the third quarter.
2. State Employees’ Credit Union, Raleigh, N.C. ($53 billion, 2.8 million members), which had an ROA of 0.31% in the fourth quarter, compared with 0.25% a year earlier and 0.43% in the third quarter. Originations were $2.5 billion, up 10.4% from a year earlier and up 3.8% from the third quarter.
3. SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union of Santa Ana, Calif. ($31.9 billion, 1.5 million members), which had an ROA of 0.6% in the fourth quarter, compared with 0.6% a year earlier and 0.16% in the third quarter. Originations were $1.7 billion, up 8.1% from a year earlier and up 60.6% from the third quarter.
4. PenFed Credit Union of Tysons, Va. ($31 billion, 2.8 million members), which had an ROA of -0.28% in the fourth quarter, compared with -1.12% a year earlier and 0.78% in the third quarter. Originations were $1 billion, down 28.4% from a year earlier and down 36.9% from the third quarter.
5. BECU of Tukwila, Wash. ($29.4 billion, 1.5 million members), which had an ROA of 0.41% in the fourth quarter, compared with 1.19% a year earlier and 0.95% in the third quarter. Originations were $1.6 billion, up 0.2% from a year earlier and down 6.5% from the third quarter.
6. America First Federal Credit Union of Riverdale, Utah ($21.7 billion, 1.5 million members), which had an ROA of 1.32% in the fourth quarter, compared with 1.31% a year earlier and 1.28% in the third quarter. Originations were $1.5 billion, down 48.7% from a year earlier and down 23.9% from the third quarter.
7. Mountain America Federal Credit Union of Salt Lake City ($20.2 billion, 1.3 million members), which had an ROA of 0.82% in the fourth quarter, compared with 0.76% a year earlier and 0.68% in the third quarter. Originations were $1.4 billion, up 19.8% from a year earlier and down 5.1% from the third quarter.
8. Golden 1 Credit Union of Sacramento, Calif. ($19.6 billion, 1.1 million members), which had an ROA of 0.5% in the fourth quarter, compared with 1.07% a year earlier and 1.34% in the third quarter. Originations were $1.7 billion, up 33.7% from a year earlier and up 21% from the third quarter.
9. Alliant Credit Union of Chicago ($19.5 billion, 901,055 members), which had an ROA of -0.02% in the fourth quarter, compared with 0.48% a year earlier and 0.53% in the third quarter. Originations were $1.7 billion, up 100.2% from a year earlier and up 13.5% from the third quarter.
10. RBFCU of San Antonio ($18 billion, 1.2 million members), which had an ROA of 1.17% in the fourth quarter, compared with 1.68% a year earlier and 1.48% in the third quarter. Originations were $922 million, up 1.5% from a year earlier and up 4.6% from the third quarter.