North Midlands Credit Union generated €1.4m surplus and welcomes 3,700 Lanesboro / Ballyleague members

The annual general meeting (AGM) of North Midlands Credit Union Ltd will be held online by video conference on Thursday, December 15 at 7pm. This is to enable as many members as possible to attend.

The online AGM will be hosted on the “Zoom” video conferencing platform.

Please visit www.northmidlandscu.ie and complete the form to register for participation. Registration will close on Sunday, December 11 at 5pm.

North Midlands Credit Union operates from a head office in Mullingar and has five branches in Castlepollard, Kinnegad, Rochfortbridge, Lanesboro / Ballyleague and Longford town.

Conor Isdell, Chairperson of North Midlands Credit Union, said the Credit Union generated a surplus of €1.4m for the year, reduced from €2.8m in the previous year. 

He added, “The reason for the decrease in the current year’s surplus is the net cost of €1.8m which arose from the cost of our share of the deficit on the closure of the ILCU Defined Pension Scheme, which amounted to €3.5m, offset by a refund from the ILCU Savings Protection Scheme (SPS) of €1.7m. If these exceptional items had not occurred, the surplus would have increased to €3.2m for the year.”

Members’ savings now stand at almost €382m, an increase of €31.5m over the 12 month period. 

Loans to members increased by almost €9m during the year to a record high of €94.7m at September 30, 2022. The Credit Union’s reserves were €55.6m on September 30, 2022.

Mr Isdell outlined that in October, the Central Bank approved the transfer of Lanesboro Ballyleague Credit Union to North Midlands Credit Union. “Lanesboro Ballyleague Credit Union had approximately 3,700 members and net assets of €16m at the date of transfer. I would like to welcome those members and hope that they avail of the products and services that we have to offer.”

Stressing that ‘lending is the Credit Union’s core activity and main income source’ Mr Isdell said. that during the year they launched the Greenify Credit Union Loan, directed at members hoping to retrofit their homes to make them more energy efficient and environmentally friendly. 

He added, “Our suite of loan products now encompasses the Greenify Loan, agriculturally focused Cultivate Loan, Reduced Rate College Loan, Home Mortgage Loan and our Standard Rate Personal Loan. We also continue to increase the number of ways by which members can access these loans, with full online application and drawdown facilities now available and proving very popular with members.”

Membership of North Midlands Credit Union continues to expand and stood at over 59,500 members at the end of September. 2,839 new accounts were opened during the financial year.

The MCU car draw continues to be hugely popular with members. Over 12,000 members take part in the monthly draws. Since the draw commenced in 2001 there have been 256 draws for 2,222 prizes, including 256 cars and 2,066 other prizes, to the value of over €998,000. 

The Directors do not recommend the payment of a dividend on shares or a rebate on interest paid by the members on loans throughout the year as the increase in the reserve requirement is well in excess of the surplus generated for the year.