Following their banking counterparts, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) reported that the credit union industry also posted profits in the second quarter of 2020, despite the pandemic.
Profits were down sharply from a year ago but remained positive as total assets also soared.
NCUA reported that there were 5,164 federally insured credit unions with 122.3 million members. Those credit unions posted a second-quarter profit of $9.4 billion, down 35 percent from the $14.4 billion posted in the second quarter of 2019. NCUA said the decline in part was because of a jump in provisions for loan and lease losses or credit loss expenses.
Total assets rose strongly in the second quarter. NCUA said credit unions saw a 15 percent increase in assets to $1.75 trillion, while outstanding loans rose 7 percent to $1.1 trillion.
As the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. reported for banks in the second quarter, deposits increased, with NCUA saying credit union insured shares and deposits were up 16 percent from a year earlier to $1.4 trillion. The loan-to-share ratio was 76.3 percent, down from 83 percent a year earlier.
Net interest margin rose slightly to $47.8 billion from $47.3 billion a year earlier, but because of the increase in deposits, the percent of average assets fell, from 3.18 percent in 2019 to 2.88 percent in 2020.
Credit union membership rose by 4 million members from a year earlier.