Profitability at U.S. credit unions reached their highest levels in nearly a decade in the first quarter of 2018, with both return on average assets and net income at the highest level since the second quarter of 2009.
Return on average assets was 0.90%, an increase of 19 basis points from the previous year. Net income was over $3 billion for the first time since the second quarter of 2009. The $3.17 billion total was 34.8% higher than the year-ago quarter.
Membership at U.S. credit unions continues to grow, reaching 114.1 million members at the close of the first quarter of 2018. This represents 4.3% year-over-year growth; over the last nine quarters, membership growth has ranged from 3.8% to 4.3%. However, year-over-year loan and deposit growth have slowed. Loan growth was 9.7% in the first quarter, under 10% for the first time since the second quarter of 2014. Meanwhile, deposit growth was only 5.6%, the lowest level since the second quarter of 2015.
Twenty-two U.S. credit unions with over $100 million in assets reported efficiency ratios under 50% in the first quarter. Vienna, Va.-based Navy FCU, the largest U.S. credit union, reported an efficiency ratio of 48.44%.
Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Star One CU, the 12th largest U.S. credit union by assets, reported an efficiency ratio of 37.41% in the first quarter of 2018, down from 59.45% in the fourth quarter of 2017. Bloomington, Ill.-based State Farm Federal Credit Union reported the lowest efficiency ratio of any credit union at 25.08%.

Did you enjoy this analysis? Click here to set up real-time alerts for data-driven articles on the U.S. financial sector. Click here to view aggregate financials for U.S. credit unions. Click here to download a template that allows users to quantify the value credit unions are delivering to their members by calculating a score based on industry-specific metrics that help measure member return. Click here for a webcast about using S&P Global Market Intelligence data for credit union peer analysis. |

