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Solid during a rollercoaster year. Ready for more steady growth.
February 16, 2011 Dear Member, While the past year brought many ups and downs to most financial institutions, First Entertainment stayed in the black and continued to enjoy steady growth, solid lending, and provided members with excellent benefits. In fact, the only "down" we experienced was a positive one – we revamped our Overdraft program expanding the service to include both Debit and ATM Cards and we lowered our Overdraft fee from $22 to $18. First Entertainment was not exempt however from some unpleasant realities in 2010. One of the most notable was the special insurance assessment issued to all credit unions by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA). Our share of this assessment was $1.79 million. Heading into the new year, we remain solidly stable. Our reserves are strong, and exceed $72 million. We have no outstanding debt. Our portfolio is not overloaded with subprime mortgages. Nor are we suffering from significant real estate delinquencies. We're proactively helping members face financial challenges everyday. Doing so means staying true to our people-helping-people philosophy and keeping our credit union strong. We continue to loan, while others have stopped or cut back significantly. Although there was less demand by members for loans during 2010, we still funded an estimated $89 million in real estate loans and $44 million in auto and consumer loans. On the convenience front, we've just completed the relocation of our Valencia branch. The new location is about two miles from Magic Mountain in The Promenade Shopping Center at 27093 McBean Parkway in Santa Clarita. Our new branch boasts several convenient features including our first ever free-standing ATM island outside the branch, ample parking and Saturday hours. But perhaps our biggest news is what's to come … I'm excited to announce that in April we plan to open our first West Valley branch in Encino. Friendly faces in more places, ready to make your financial world pleasant and convenient. The economy is beginning to show signs of improvement, albeit slowly, but the banking world is still struggling. Against this gloomy backdrop, we've once again managed to maintain our safety and soundness. And, we're ideally positioned to continue surging forward, to another solid year of superior financial security, steady growth and superlative member value. Sincerely, Charles A. Bruen |
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