ALEXANDRIA, Va. Credit unions around the country are once again reporting big gains in the first quarter, many of them benefiting from excess loan loss reserves still overhanging from the financial crisis which they are sending straight to their bottom lines, according to Financial Performance Reports submitted to NCUA this week.
Utah’s America First CU, for example, reported a 51% surge in first quarter net, to $50.1 million, with the help of a $10 million reduction in provision for loan losses from last year’s first quarter.
Florida’s Suncoast Schools FCU reported a $5.9 million increase in first quarter net, to $18.5 million, as it cut its loan loss provision by $9 million for the quarter.
Patelco CU in San Francisco reported is reporting an $8.5 million increase in first quarter net after it cut loan loss provisions by $3.4 million. And Sacramento’s Golden 1 CU boosted first quarter net by $13.5 million, to $30.5 million, after cutting its provision by almost the same amount, $12.4 million to negative $883,000.
Similar cuts in loss provisions are continuing to fuel earnings at Desert Schools FCU, Arrowhead Central CU, SAFE FCU, San Diego County CU, VyStar CU, DFCU Financial, Security Service FCU, BECU, and elsewhere around the country.
The trend of lower loan loss reserves has allowed credit unions to book record net income the past two years, and most credit unions are ahead of last year’s pace.
Several other trends are appearing for the first quarter; loan income continues to slow; investment income is still declining; mortgage lending is starting to taper off; and none of the credit unions has set aside any funds yet to pay NCUA’s corporate bailout assessment.
Many other credit unions are reporting historically big first quarter net income: Colorado’s Ent FCU, a $9.2 million net; Digital FCU in Massachusetts, an $18.9 million net; Florida’s GTE FCU, $3.6 million; Logix FCU (the former Lockheed FCU), $14.9 million; and California’s First Tech FCU, $32.2 million.
