CANFIELD, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Farmers National Banc Corp. (“Farmers” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: FMNB) reported net income of $11.2 million, or $0.30 per diluted share, for the three months ended March 31, 2024, compared to $7.1 million, or $0.19 per diluted share, for the three months ended March 31, 2023. Net income for the first quarter of 2024 included a pretax item of $2.1 million for the loss on the sale of investment securities. Excluding this item (non-GAAP), net income for the first quarter of 2024 was $12.9 million, or $0.34 per diluted share.

Kevin J. Helmick, President and CEO, stated, “I am encouraged by the solid start to 2024 as we focus on leveraging the investments we made over the past year, pursuing actions to strategically improve our balance sheet, and maintaining the Company’s longstanding commitment to strong asset quality. While we expect the economic and interest rate environment to remain fluid in 2024, we believe we are well positioned to help our local communities build a better future by continuing to provide our customers with leading financial services.”

Balance Sheet

Total assets were $5.08 billion at March 31, 2024, unchanged from December 31, 2023. Loans decreased slightly to $3.18 billion at March 31, 2024 compared to $3.20 billion at December 31, 2023. The Company anticipates loan growth of 1 - 2%, in 2024 reflecting a more challenging economic and interest rate environment, as well as the Company’s focus on maintaining excellent asset quality.

The Company had securities available for sale of $1.27 billion at March 31, 2024, compared to $1.30 billion at December 31, 2023. Gross unrealized losses on the portfolio totaled $234.2 million at March 31, 2024, compared to gross unrealized losses of $217.1 million at December 31, 2023. The Company also completed a security restructure during the quarter, which involved selling approximately $44.3 million of securities and reinvesting the proceeds into securities with yields 200 basis points higher than those sold. The earn back on the $2.1 million loss that was incurred on the sale is approximately 2.5 years. The Company expects bond market volatility to continue in 2024 and anticipates that it will continue to allow the size of the securities portfolio to shrink via runoff to optimize profitability and provide liquidity.

Total deposits increased to $4.20 billion at March 31, 2024, compared to $4.18 billion at December 31, 2023. Noninterest bearing deposits declined $49.2 million during the first quarter of 2024 even as interest bearing deposits increased $69.9 million. Customers continue to seek higher rates on their deposit balances but the pace of activity has slowed somewhat.

Total stockholders’ equity was $397.0 million at March 31, 2024 compared to $404.4 million at December 31, 2023. The decline was driven by an increase in the unrealized losses on investment securities of $12.4 million offset by earnings net of dividend payments to shareholders.

Credit Quality

The Company’s non-performing loans dropped to $12.0 million at March 31, 2024, from $15.1 million at December 31, 2023. Non-performing loans to total loans was 0.38% at March 31, 2024, compared to 0.47% at December 31, 2023. Non-performing assets to total assets were 0.24% at March 31, 2024, compared to 0.30% at December 31, 2023. The Company’s loans which were 30-89 days delinquent were $14.1 million at March 31, 2024, or 0.44% of total loans.

The provision for credit losses and unfunded commitments was a recovery of $449,000 in the first quarter of 2024 compared to provision expense for credit losses and unfunded commitments of $8.6 million for the first quarter of 2023. On January 1, 2023, the Company completed its acquisition of Emclaire Financial Corp. As a result of this acquisition, the Company incurred a day one provision expense for credit losses and unfunded commitments of $7.7 million. The recovery of provision expense in the first quarter of 2024 was due to shrinkage in the loan portfolio and continued improvements in the Company’s credit metrics. Annualized net charge-offs as a percentage of average loans were 0.13% for the three months ended March 31, 2024, compared to 0.03% for the three months ended March 31, 2023. The allowance for credit losses to total loans was 1.04% at March 31, 2024, compared to 1.08% at December 31, 2023.

Net Interest Income

The Company’s net interest income for the three months ended March 31, 2024, totaled $31.7 million compared to $36.6 million in the first quarter of 2023. Average earning assets have declined $69.3 million when comparing the first quarter of 2024 to the first quarter of 2023 due to the runoff in investment securities exceeding the growth in loan balances. In addition, the net interest margin has declined from 3.07% in the first quarter of 2023 to 2.70% in the first quarter of 2024. The decline in net interest margin between the first quarter of 2024 and the first quarter of 2023 was due to increased funding costs outstripping the increase in yields on earning assets. This increase in funding costs has been due to the rapid increase in deposit rates due to intense competition for deposits, the Federal Reserve’s rate hiking cycle, and runoff of deposit balances which are being replaced with more costly wholesale funding.

Noninterest Income

The Company reported noninterest income of $8.4 million during the first quarter of 2024 compared to $10.4 million for the first quarter of 2023. This decrease is primarily due to the Company completing the securities restructure in the first quarter of 2024, which resulted in a $2.1 million loss on the sale of the securities. In the first quarter of 2023, the Company recognized $121,000 in securities gains.

Service charges on deposit accounts were $1.6 million for the first quarter of 2024 compared to $1.4 million for the same period in 2023 due to increased activity. Bank owned life insurance income increased to $707,000 in the first quarter from $547,000 in the first quarter of 2023. A death benefit of $83,000 in 2024 and higher earnings credit on the policies drove the increase. Trust fees increased by $206,000 in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023 due to continued strong growth in this line of business. Likewise, insurance commissions, retirement consulting fees and investment commissions all exhibited solid growth in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the first quarter of 2023. Debit card income declined $222,000 to $1.6 million in the first quarter of 2024 compared to $1.8 million for the first quarter of 2023 reflecting a year-over-year decline in average customer spend per transaction. Other noninterest income declined to $1.1 million for the first three months of 2024 compared to $1.3 million for the first three months of 2023 as the Company received less SBIC income from its investments in 2024 compared to 2023.

Noninterest Expense

Noninterest expense was $27.0 million for the first three months of 2024 compared to $30.7 million for the first three months of 2023. This decrease was primarily driven by the Company recording $4.3 million in merger related charges in 2023. There were no merger related charges recorded in 2024. Salaries and employee benefits were $15.1 million in the first quarter of 2024 compared to $14.6 million in the first quarter of 2023. The increase was primarily driven by higher salaries associated with employee raises. Occupancy and equipment expense decreased by $139,000 in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the first quarter of 2023 primarily due to several branch closures. FDIC and state and local taxes increased $123,000 to $1.3 million for the first three months of 2024 compared to $1.2 million for the first three months of 2023 due to an increase in the FDIC assessment rate. Professional fees increased $140,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2024, compared to the first quarter of 2023 primarily due to increased legal fees. Intangible amortization declined $220,000 in the first three months of 2024 to $688,000 compared to $909,000 for the first three months of 2023 primarily due to the amortization from a prior acquisition running off. Other noninterest expense increased $309,000 in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the first quarter of 2023.

Liquidity

At March 31, 2024, the Company’s loan to deposit ratio was 75.8% and the Company’s average deposit balance per account (excluding collateralized deposits) was $22,748. The Company has access to an additional $739.9 million of FHLB borrowing capacity at March 31, 2024, along with $274.6 million of available for sale securities that are not pledged.

About Farmers National Banc Corp.

Founded in 1887, Farmers National Banc Corp. is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Canfield, Ohio, with $5.1 billion in banking assets. Farmers National Banc Corp.’s wholly-owned subsidiaries are comprised of The Farmers National Bank of Canfield, a full-service national bank engaged in commercial and retail banking with 62 banking locations in Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana, Portage, Stark, Wayne, Medina, Geauga and Cuyahoga Counties in Ohio and Beaver, Butler, Allegheny, Jefferson, Clarion, Venango, Clearfield, Mercer, Elk and Crawford Counties in Pennsylvania, and Farmers Trust Company, which operates five trust offices and offers services in the same geographic markets. Total wealth management assets under care at March 31, 2024 are $3.8 billion. Farmers National Insurance, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Farmers National Bank of Canfield, offers a variety of insurance products.

Non-GAAP Disclosure

This press release includes disclosures of Farmers’ tangible common equity ratio, return on average tangible assets, return on average tangible equity, net income excluding costs related to acquisition activities and certain items, return on average assets excluding merger costs and certain items, return on average equity excluding merger costs and certain items, net interest margin excluding acquisition marks and related accretion and PPP interest and fees and efficiency ratio less certain items, which are financial measures not prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (GAAP). A non-GAAP financial measure is a numerical measure of historical or future financial performance, financial position or cash flows that excludes or includes amounts that are required to be disclosed by GAAP. Farmers believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide both management and investors a more complete understanding of the underlying operational results and trends and Farmers’ marketplace performance. The presentation of this additional information is not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the numbers prepared in accordance with GAAP. The reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to their GAAP equivalents are included in the tables following Consolidated Financial Highlights below.

Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

We make statements in this news release and our related investor conference call, and we may from time to time make other statements, that are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements about Farmers’ financial condition, results of operations, asset quality trends and profitability. Forward-looking statements are not historical facts but instead represent only management’s current expectations and forecasts regarding future events, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of Farmers’ control. Forward-looking statements are preceded by terms such as “expects,” “believes,” “anticipates,” “intends” and similar expressions, as well as any statements related to future expectations of performance or conditional verbs, such as “will,” “would,” “should,” “could” or “may.” Farmers’ actual results and financial condition may differ, possibly materially, from the anticipated results and financial condition indicated in these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause Farmers’ actual results to differ materially from those described in certain forward-looking statements include significant changes in near-term local, regional, and U.S. economic conditions including those resulting from continued high rates of inflation, tightening monetary policy of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, and possibility of a recession; and the other factors contained in Farmers’ Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and available on Farmers’ website () and on the SEC’s website (). Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and should not be relied upon as representing management’s views as of any subsequent date. Farmers does not undertake any obligation to update the forward-looking statements to reflect the impact of circumstances or events that may arise after the date of the forward-looking statements.

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