Q3 2018 Economic Reports now available from Cornerstone

The third Quarter 2018 Economic Report is now available online under the Services tab located on the Cornerstone Credit Union League homepage.

The economy expanded 3.5 percent in the third quarter of 2018, building upon the strong 4.2 percent growth seen in the second quarter. At 3.7 percent, the national unemployment rate in the third quarter was the lowest rate reported since 1969. Additionally, personal income and interest rates have started to increase across the economy. Credit unions nationwide contributed to this sustained growth, as the cooperative industry once again posted an expanding member base, loan portfolio, and share portfolio.

Mirroring the industry’s healthy financial metrics, credit unions in the Cornerstone region of Texas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma saw improvements across both sides of the balance sheet in the third quarter of 2018. The following key takeaways are highlighted in the report:

• As of Sept. 30, the Cornerstone region has 574 credit unions. Cornerstone credit unions serve more than 10.6 million members with 28,511 full-time equivalent employees, up 3.7 percent and 2.0 percent year-over-year, respectively.
• Total loan originations through the third quarter were 5.3 percent above levels reported in the same period in 2017. Although member commercial originations declined 5.1 percent, consumer loan origination growth of 6.4 percent was enough to drive total loan originations higher. Nationwide, year-to-date loan originations increased 6.5 percent from levels reported in the third quarter of 2017.
• Average loan balances expanded 7.0 percent in the Cornerstone region, which was slower than the 9.5 percent growth reported nationwide. Auto loans were the largest contributor to overall loan growth, up 7.5 percent in the Cornerstone region, and 10.8 percent nationally.
• As the loan portfolio grows, and with interest rates on the rise, interest income is climbing at Cornerstone cooperatives. Income from loans was up 8.9 percent year-over-year, while income from investments expanded 30.6 percent. With the operating expense ratio up only 9 basis points, credit unions in the Cornerstone region increased net income 56.0 percent year-over-year.
• The growth in income, combined with effective expense management, led to year-over-year net worth growth of 8.1 percent. This helped push ROA up 29 basis points annually to 89 basis points, 7 basis points behind the national average of 0.96 percent.
• As total membership grows in the Cornerstone region, credit unions are strengthening member relationships with existing members. The average member relationship in the region, a measure of the retail relationship a member has with a credit union, stood at $17,355 in the third quarter, up 1.5 percent annually.

The Personalized Performance Report and PowerPoint slide deck depicting your credit union’s third Quarter 2018 results will be emailed soon to all Cornerstone members. As a reminder, the PPR includes:

• Ratio results for your credit union in the critical operational areas of capital, asset quality, earnings, and liquidity;
• Information addressing basic concentrations and growth, including historical and current key ratio results, comparisons of those ratios with peer (by asset size and regionally);
• Supplemental numeric and ratio metrics; and 
• The formulas used to calculate the ratio results,

If you have trouble accessing the reports, please contact Vicki Harris in ALM Resources at vharris@cornerstoneleague.coop or 800-442-5762, ext. 6497.