WILMINGTON, NC (June 11, 2019) — Credit union strategy consulting firm Glatt Consulting Group, Inc. announced today that the Credit Union Industry HealthScore, a composite score measuring the health and performance of US-based credit unions, reached an all-time high score of 6.041. The current HealthScore, calculated using 1st quarter 2019 data, represents a 1.6% year-over-year score improvement. Credit unions performed better in 12 of 17 HealthScore categories, though potential challenges in the areas of loan and membership growth may be emerging.
The Credit Union Industry HealthScore measures overall credit union health, which is calculated by scoring/grading credit union performance across 17 different key ratios. Grading is based on a 10-point scale, with 0 reflecting poor performance and 10 reflecting exceptional performance. The Credit Union Industry HealthScore has been calculated and published by Glatt Consulting since 2009.
::Driving Score Growth::
In addition to attaining the highest ever HealthScore, credit unions continued their unprecedented run of year-over-year performance improvement. Scores have improved year-over-year for 21 straight quarters, with 12 of 17 of the score components showing positive gains. Notable score drivers include Return on Assets, Efficiency, Delinquencies, Charge-Offs, and Loans to Assets. In addition, credit unions continue to show improvement in Borrowers to Members, which indicates effectiveness in member relationship development and is directly correlated with the improvements in scores referenced above.
::Q1 Observations::
While credit unions are managing expenses well relative to current income, they may have a difficult time maintaining that positive relationship going forward given two emerging score issues: Q1 score declines of 10.37% and 3.20% respectively for loan growth and membership growth. Should score declines for these two components continue over the coming quarters, score declines for income and efficiency may materialize, and the trend of decline in operating expense scores will continue. This will put pressure on the HealthScore overall and could break the streak of year-over-year score improvement.
::Top Performers::
The industry’s highest scoring credit union in the 1st quarter, with a score of 9.06, was Little Rock Fire Department Federal Credit Union based in Little Rock, Arkansas (http://lrfdfcu.virtualcu.net/
Also of note is Eastman Credit Union based in Kingsport, Tennessee (https://www.ecu.org). Eastman, with a Q1 score of 8.529, is the top-scoring credit union with assets over $1B. The credit union is also a perennial top performer with a historical average score of 8.03. They serve 228,017 members.
::Summary HealthScore Data::
With regard to score trends, 12 of the 17 HealthScore components saw year-over-year score gains. They are:
(1) Net Worth: Up 1.93%
(2) Solvency Evaluation: Up 2.38%
(3) Return on Average Assets: Up 9.81%
(4) Efficiency: Up 5.56%
(5) Delinquent Loans to Total Loans: Up 3.19%
(6) Net Charge-Offs to Average Loans: Up 1.23%
(7) Texas: Up 0.30%
(8) Loans to Assets: Up 6.35%
(9) Deposits Per Member: Up 1.69%
(10) Loans Per Member: Up 5.08%
(11) Borrowers Per Members: Up 2.78%
(12) Asset Growth: Up 0.77%
Components that saw a year-over-year decline in score include:
(1) Operating Expenses to Average Assets: Down 3.39%
(2) Cash and Short-Term Investments to Assets: Down 2.60%
(3) Regular Shares to Total Shares and Borrowings: Down 1.13%
(4) Loan Growth: Down 10.37%
(5) Membership Growth: Down 3.20%
A HealthScore data report, including the top 20 credit unions by HealthScore, is attached to this release. We’re happy to serve as a resource on articles related to overarching industry performance, and we welcome your use of the trend material, properly credited to Glatt Consulting. If you have questions about this quarter’s report or CU industry trends overall, contact me at tglatt@glattconsulting.com or (888) 217-5988, ext. 801.
Glatt Consulting is a credit union consulting company based in Wilmington, NC. Founded in 2006, Glatt Consulting specializes in aiding credit unions in establishing corporate strategy, designing organizational structure and workflow, and working with leadership teams to improve and better leverage organizational culture.
Tom Glatt
tglatt@glattconsulting.com
