OnPoint fourth quarter shows leveling off (Jack Bog's Blog)

It's time to check up on the local economy again by taking a look at the latest financial statements filed by OnPoint Community Credit Union, our barometer of how things are going on the ground in Portland. The latest filings show that the bad news of 2008 and 2009 slowed down a bit toward the end of 2009, with a decent showing in the last quarter. Here are the categories of data that we've been following at OnPoint:

Item	12/31/08	9/30/09	12/31/09	Quarterly increase (decrease)	12-month increase (decrease)
Total investments	$199,685,297	$431,120,688	$432,665,342	0.36%	116.67%
Federal agency securities	$126,745,213	$267,096,828	$285,152,450	6.76%	124.98%
Total reportable delinquency - total delinquent loans	$23,621,140	$25,324,131	$22,551,519	(10.95%)	(4.53%)
Total reportable delinquency - indirect lending	$8,891,285	$5,360,245	$4,449,517	(16.99%)	(49.96%)
Total outstanding loan balances subject to bankruptcies	$14,364,478	$17,031,887	$29,565,449	73.59%	105.82%
Ratio of delinquent loans to total loans (percent)	1.05	1.16	1.06
Ratio of total delinquent loans to net worth (percent)	10.27	10.05	8.73

Delinquent loans are those delinquent for two months or more.

Investments are up, delinquent loans are down, but loans in bankruptcy are climbing steeply. Also, it's curious that there are more than $29.5 million of loans subject to bankruptcies, but only $22.6 million or so in delinquent loans. I figured that bankrupt debtors would also be delinquents, but I guess I am mistaken about that.

Over on the profit and loss side, OnPoint's net income for the year 2009 was $28,419,382, compared to a loss of $2,872,665 in 2008 (the latter having been created by a big hit to earnings for losses in the credit union insurance pool). For the fourth quarter of 2009 alone, net income was $6,454,363, as compared to a loss of $19,201,131 in the fourth quarter of 2008. In the fourth quarter of 2009, deposits increased slightly, from $2,373,916,394 to $2,381,752,154 -- a second consecutive quarterly increase, but just barely (0.33%). Deposits a year earlier were $2,191,035,640, and thus for the year, deposits were up 8.70%.

As we did last quarter, we'll compare some of OnPoint's financial data with that of three other Oregon-based credit unions that readers have mentioned: Unitus here in Portland, First Tech in Beaverton, and Oregon Community down in Eugene.

One number that we've been tracking for the group has been the ratio of delinquent loans (two months or more) to total loans -- the higher the number, the worse the portfolio from a delinquency standpoint. Here are the percentages for all four of the credit unions in that department. All showed improvement in the fourth quarter:

Credit union	12/31/08	9/30/09	12/31/09
First Tech	0.83	1.12	1.09
OnPoint	1.05	1.16	1.06
Oregon Community	0.79	1.87	1.51
Unitus	1.28	1.59	1.33

Another ratio that we've been watching is delinquent loans to net worth. Here are the percentages for the whole group on that score, again showing that they are bouncing back:

Credit Union	12/31/08	9/30/09	12/31/09
First Tech	6.06	6.98	6.63
OnPoint	10.27	10.05	8.73
Oregon Community	8.65	21.41	16.91
Unitus	9.57	11.42	9.41

Finally, the year-to-date net income (loss) figures for the group. Although given their varying sizes, we're likely talking apples and oranges, the trends are probably worth comparing:

Credit Union	12/31/08	9/30/09	12/31/09
First Tech	$2,860,437	$19,083,328	$23,354,779
OnPoint	($2,872,665)	$21,965,019	$28,419,382
Oregon Community	$2,111,826	($1,663,273)	($78,980)
Unitus	$1,127,432	($3,713,168)	($4,074,553)

Only Unitus lost money in the fourth quarter of 2009, finishing the year well in the hole.

On into the fog of the recession we continue to stumble, but seemingly avoiding the steep downward slopes of late '08 and early '09. At least for now.