First Niles Financial Reports Improved Earnings

NILES, Ohio – First-quarter net income at First Niles Financial Inc. was up $78,000 from the same period a year ago, the company reported Monday.

The holding company for Home Federal Savings and Loan Association of Niles recorded net income of $127,000 for the three-month period ended March 31, compared with net income of $49,000 for the same period in 2014.

Primary earnings per share for the quarter were 11 cents, compared to 4 cents for the same period in 2014. Increased non-interest income and a recovery, resulting in a reversal to the provision for loan losses, both resulting from the pay-off of a nonaccrual loan, were the primary factors favorably affecting net income on a comparative period basis, FNFI said.

Net interest income after the provision for loan losses  totaled $477,000, compared to $446,000 for the first quarter of 2014, an increase of $31,000. Total interest income was $639,000 for the three months ended March 31, a $21,000 decrease from the same period in 2014.

Interest expense for the three months ended March 31 was $203,000, an $11,000 decrease from the prior-year period. The provision for loan losses was -$41,000 for the quarter ended March 31, compared to no provision for loan losses in the comparative quarter one year ago.

Non-interest income for the first quarter was $180,000, as compared to $61,000 for the same period in 2014, an increase of $119,000. The pay-off of the nonaccrual loan as referred to above contributed $151,000 to non-interest income in the first quarter .

Non-interest expense was $498,000, compared to $465,000 for the first quarter of 2014, an increase of $33,000, or 7.1%.  A $24,000 increase in compensation expense due to increased staffing levels and higher health insurance premiums were the primary contributing factors to the increase in non-interest expense on a comparative period basis.

Non-performing loans, consisting of non-accruing loans and accruing loans delinquent more than 90 days, totaled $988,000 at March 31, or 4.2% of net loans receivable, a decrease of $364,000 from Dec. 31.

At March 31  total assets were $98.7 million, compared to $96.4 million at Dec. 31. Net loans receivable totaled $23.4 million at March 31, as compared to $22.9 million the prior quarter, an increase of $561,000, or 2.5%. Deposits were $59.1 million at March 31, as compared to $59.2 million at Dec. 31. Total borrowings were $27.0 million at March 31, $2.0 million higher than Dec. 31.

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