SAN DIEGO — More than a handful of credit unions in the SanDiego area were profiled for their return on assetperformances.

The November issue of the San Diego Metropolitan Uptown Examiner& Daily Business Report said several credit unions surpassedthe 1.0 ROA mark including Chula Vista City Employees Credit Union(2.39 ROA), Faith Based Federal (2.39), the Metropolitan CreditUnion (1.71), San Diego County Credit Union (1.66), Paradise ValleyCredit Union (1.47), Pacific Marine Credit Union (1.34), CabrilloCredit Union (1.13) and San Diego Medical Federal (1.03). Each ofthese eight also topped CUNA's 2006 national ROA forecast of 0.82,while Escondido Federal tied the mark, the publicationreported.

The 29 credit unions headquartered in San Diego County have acombined 936,000 members. At the end of the fiscal year, they heldabout $12.29 billion, $4.6 million more than a year earlier. Whilepedestrian by credit union standards, the rate exceeded CUNA's 2006forecast of 3.1%. It was sharply off the five-year average of 8.7%,according to the article.

Metropolitan was the biggest gainer, moving from No. 17 on lastyear's list of top ROA performers to No. 3 this year, thepublication said. President/CEO Joe Schroeder, who took the helmlast year, attributes the gain to operating expense management andimproved lending quality.

The publication reported that Mission Fed's ROA fell from 0.9%to zero. President/CEO Jim Miller attributes the drop to “gettingout of specific loan programs that were no longer profitable,” anddiscounts on asset sales. Even with these issues, Mission Fedmanaged to grow 2% in assets, approaching $2 billion, the articleread. North Island remained a “steady performer” with an ROA of0.57, off 17%, and a 1% growth in assets, topping $1.5 billion.

First Future Credit Union is nearing the $1 billion mark, butits ROA declined 33% as of June 30, the publication reported. Ithopes auto loan incentives will turn things around, said MarlaShepard, president/CEO.