Credit union earnings jump in Ontario and BC
Earnings of B.C. credit unions rose 29.6 per cent last year to reach a record $380.4 million before taxes and dividends, Central 1 Credit Union announced today. This tops the previous record of $293.6 million posted in 2009.
Total assets at year-end amounted to $49.4 billion, a gain of 2.1 per cent or $1 billion.
Central 1 Credit Union announced that its member credit unions in Ontario posted earnings of $114.9 million before taxes and dividends in 2010, a gain of 20 per cent from a year earlier. That compares with previous record earnings by member credit unions of $107.8 million in 2007.
Central 1, the wholesale financial facility and trade association for the Ontario and B.C. credit union systems, had 119 active member credit unions in Ontario at year-end 2010. These credit unions saw their total assets grow by 7.8 per cent to reach $23.2 billion at year-end, a gain of $1.6 billion.
Higher financial margin, largely due to robust loan growth of 8.5 per cent and favourable interest rate spreads, was the key factor driving the improvement in earnings.
B.C. credit union membership stood at 1.72 million at year-end, for a net gain of 24,790 members from 2009. Members received a total of $42.6 million in dividends and patronage rebates. At year-end 2010, Central 1 had 119 active member credit unions in Ontario, with 470 branches and a network of 497 automated teller machines serving 1.2 million members in more than 190 communities. These credit unions employ nearly 5,000 Ontarians.
