DALLAS -
The September findings, released as part of Southwest Corporate FCU's ongoing CU CEO Confidence Index, found CEOs rating their own credit union's financial performance an average 57.46, down from the 58.75 average of July. In the survey, Southwest Corporate asks CEOs to rate their confidence on a 1-100 scale.
When asked to look six months ahead and predict their credit union's financial condition, CEOs had an average response of 60.82, down from the 61.25 average projection in July.
The confidence index measures credit union CEOs' feelings on six key issues.
Meanwhile, when it comes to CEOs' assessment of their members current financial condition, not surprisingly, they're not feeling too rosy, either.
Credit union leaders' evaluation of Members' Current Financial Condition slipped to 23.88 in September, down from 31.88. This figure is still above the lowest member rating the survey has ever recorded, 19.36 in September of 2006.
Southwest Corporate said the expectation for members' financial condition six months from now also fell, but by a slightly less margin, to 24.63 from 31.88.
"With all the attention lately from the housing slowdown, subprime mortgages and low loan demand, it would be reasonable to expect some apprehension from credit unions, particularly with CEOs' concerns pertaining to their members' present financial condition," said Brian Turner, manager of Southwest Corporate's Investment Advisory Service. "This is supported by rising overall consumer debt over the past few years, although consumer installment debt service ratios have been on the decline for more than three years. Thankfully, we continue to have a very strong labor market, and overall wages have remained at relatively strong levels."
Turner noted that weak loan and share growth during the first half of the year has led many to drop their expectations for the remainder of 2007.
The CU CEO Confidence Index revealed that expectation for loan demand fell to 23.51 in September from 29.69 in July to 23.51 in September.
Expectation for share growth took an even greater dive, with September's tick mark at 15.30, down from 23.75 in July.
Turner noted that even with apparent slow downs this year, there are some positive economic indicators, including overall growth in first-lien mortgages of 12%.
