Silver State Schools Credit Union in Las Vegas finished 2018 with net income more than 8 percent higher than it was one year prior, bringing in over $12 million, $5.03 million of that coming in the fourth quarter alone.
The credit union's growth comes as
Last year’s results, totaling $12.36 million, are an improvement over 2017 – which saw $11.35 million for the year and $2.99 million during the fourth quarter – and represent a continued stretch of good results for the credit union, which has now posted positive earnings for 27 consecutive quarters.
Silver State Schools was battered during the Great Recession and endured the painfully slow recovery in Southern Nevada. The credit union, privately insured by American Share Insurance, had $1 billion in assets prior to the financial crisis, but plummeted to $622 million at the end of 2012.
In 2009, Silver State Schools lost $50.8 million, followed by a loss of $21.4 million in 2010 and $8.4 million in 2011. After a much smaller net loss of $670,000 in 2012, the CU reported $13.55 million in net income for 2013 and has seen positive earnings each year since then.
“We continue to consistently improve our financial strength as evidenced by our increasing regulatory capital ratio and overall performance, President and CEO Scott Arkills said in a statement. “Our net income earnings continued to trend strongly for the fourth quarter of 2018, reflecting excellent loan growth and sustained improvements in asset quality. The credit union has benefited from improved consumer confidence and low unemployment trends and continues to improve substantially each quarter.”
Among the highlights the credit union reported from 2018:
- As of Dec. 31, Silver State Schools CU said it had $688 million in deposits, $768 million in total assets, and $593 million in loans. SSSCU said its liquidity “remains strong” at $58 million, while its regulatory net worth stands at $79.5 million, equal to 10.36% of total assets (ahead of the “well capitalized” standard for federally insured credit unions)
- Earnings for 2018 included a charge to the provision for loan losses of $1.45 million and a credit to the provision for loan losses in 2017 of $572,000. Excluding the charge and credits to the provision for loan losses and the non-recurring gains, core earnings for 2018 were $11.88 million, as compared to $10.77 million for 2017, SSSCU explained
- Net interest margin ratios at the credit union increased 25 basis points, hitting 3.47 percent at the end of 2017. The improvement reflected an increase in consumer loan portfolio balances and a higher yielding loan portfolio, the CU said
- Q4 2018 earnings were “favorably impacted” by non-recurring gains totaling $1.93 million. Excluding non-recurring gains, fourth-quarter earnings for 2018 were $3.10 million, the credit union said
- Delinquencies as a percentage of total loans decreased from 0.55 percent to 0.31 percent
- Due to “continued favorable credit conditions,” the credit union was able to lower its total allowance for loan losses from $2.8 million (0.53 percent of total loans) as of Dec. 31, 2017, to $2.78 million (0.47 percent of total loans) on Dec. 31, 2018.
