Nevada’s long and often difficult economic recovery didn’t stop One Nevada Credit Union from posting its third consecutive profitable year. The state’s largest credit union continues to see increases in membership and lending activity.
The Las Vegas-based credit union posted net income of $7.06 million in 2014, compared with $6.4 million in 2013, and $2.4 million in 2012. In 2011, it posted a net loss of $4.8 million.
“I’m cautiously optimistic that recovery will continue,” One Nevada Credit Union President and CEO Brad Beal said. “Overall, the picture looks pretty good.”
Beal said there were some problems hanging over the state’s economy, including a 6.8 percent unemployment rate, 25 percent to 35 percent of homeowners still being underwater on their mortgages and a sluggish commercial real estate market.
During 2014, One Nevada reported more than $190 million in home loans, and more than $70 million in auto loans. Beal said One Nevada also added more than 13,000 new members last year.
That membership growth came from all areas of the community, he said. But, One Nevada benefited from what Beal described as “borrowing age” members, those in their 30s and 40s.
“We had a few less of the unbanked and underbanked folks join us last year,” Beal said. “I would say most of our new members were more of a traditional customer base.”
As of Dec. 31, One Nevada posted net loans outstanding of $337.4 million. The credit union set aside more than $1.9 million for loan loss provision.
One Nevada’s total assets increased to $729.2 million, up from $697.8 million in 2013, and $665.4 million in 2012.
Beal said the credit union’s net income of more than $7 million resulted in a net worth ratio of 10.9 percent of total assets. He said last year’s “financial performance once again places us among the leaders nationwide.”
But Beal and his team faced challenges last year, the biggest of which were data breaches at retailers in Nevada that caused the credit union to eat the cost of replacing members’ credit and debit cards.
Those expenses weren’t broken out in the credit union’s annual report, but One Nevada posted operating expenses of $37.9 million for 2014.
Beal said he was confident One Nevada’s account alerts would help its members and the credit union reduce the incidents of fraud. Introduced in 2013, the account alerts sends a text message every time a members’ debit card is used.
If a customer gets a text message saying he spent money at a retailer even though he didn’t, he should call the credit union at once. Beal said.
“(That way) we can deal with the questionable transaction much faster,” he said.
He said online products offered by the credit union don’t add to earnings, but do meet member expectations for services.
Credit union Chief to retire
The Clark County Credit Union’s longtime president and CEO will retire this summer after almost three decades with the Las Vegas-based financial institution.
Wayne Tew has spent 29 years with Clark County Credit Union, and has been its president and CEO since 1986. Under his leadership, the credit union has grown from $33 million in assets to $550 million in assets and its membership has grown from 14,000 to 34,000.
At the end of 2014, Clark County Credit Union had a net worth ratio of 11.77 percent and net income of $12.2 million.
Tew recently oversaw the awarding a $2.7 million bonus dividend to members.
Zions posts higher profit, revenues
Zions Bancorp, the parent of Nevada State Bank, posted a fourth-quarter profit as it continued to reduce its exposure to a type of investment that had cost the bank’s stress test results last year.
Zions reported net income of $88.3 million, or 36 cents a share, reversing a year-earlier loss of $41.5 million, or 32 cents a share. Net revenue increased almost 40 percent to $559.8 million.
The earnings fell short of Wall Street expectations. Analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research had forecast earnings of 43 cents per share on revenue of $557.3 million.
During a conference call, Zions Bancorp CEO Harris Simmons told analysts that his company is well positioned for the next several quarters and years.
“However, we are exercising caution on lending and maintaining strong discipline with our underwriting standards and concentration limits,” Simmons said.
The bank estimated its Tier 1 capital ratio at 11.92 percent as of Dec. 31. Regulators use Tier 1 capital ratios to determine how well banks can absorb losses.
In its earnings report, Zions realized losses of about $13 million on collateralized debt obligations. The Federal Reserve initially rejected Zion’s capital plan year over its large collateralized debt obligation portfolio.
Collateralized debt obligations bundle different types of debt from student loans to corporate bonds and repackage them for sale to investors. Collateralized debt obligations, which use the underlying loans as collateral, were one type of investment federal regulators tried to curb after the financial crisis.
Heller named subcommittee chairman
Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., is the first Nevada lawmaker to lead a subcommittee on the Senate Finance Committee.
Heller said he will chair the Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions, and Family Policy during this congressional session. In a statement, Heller said the position will let him better serve Nevada’s 380,000 senior citizens.
Heller also said he would head a subcommittee on the Senate’s Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. That position, he said, would let him better represent the interest of Nevadans recovering from foreclosures and bankruptcies.
NEXT: The March 2 Banking Insider column will feature an interview with Clark County Credit Union President and CEO Wayne Tew.