Farmers Reports $60.6M in 2022 Net Income, $13.4M in Q4

CANFIELD, Ohio – Farmers National Banc Corp. reported $13.4 million in net income for the fourth quarter ending Dec. 31, with diluted earnings at 39 cents per share. That compared with $5.7 million in net income for the final quarter of 2021.

Net income for all of 2022 stood at $60.6 million, or $1.79 per diluted share, which was higher than the $51.8 million, or $1.77 per diluted share, in 2021.

“2022 was a strong year for farmers as we produced record net income, which drove strong returns on assets, equity and tangible equity,” said Kevin J. Helmick, president and CEO of Farmers. “In addition, we successfully integrated the 2021 Cortland Bancorp acquisition, focused on completing the 2023 Emclaire Financial Corp. acquisition and enhanced our leadership team and board.”

Farmers completed the merger with Emclaire just after the first of the year, which Helmick said expanded the bank’s presence throughout Pennsylvania and increased bank assets to $5 billion and $3 billion in wealth assets. Emclaire operated 19 branches in 10 counties throughout western Pennsylvania, and at the end of 2022 had total assets of $1.02 billion, gross loans of $797.3 million and deposits of $874.6 million.

Farmers’ fourth-quarter results included $584,000 for merger-related costs and combined net losses of $338,000 on the sale of securities and other assets, without which Farmers net income would have been reported at $14.1 million, or 42 cents per diluted share.

“I believe Farmers is well positioned to navigate an increasingly difficult economic and interest rate environment as a result of our strong asset quality and capital levels, experienced leadership team and dedication to provide our communities with exceptional financial products and services,” Helmick said.

Prior to the merger, Farmers’ total assets declined to $4.08 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with $4.12 billion at the end of the third quarter. Gross loans increased in the fourth quarter by $5.2 million to $2.4 billion. Results for the year included $4.1 million in acquisition costs, $454,000 in security losses, $8.4 million in other noninterest income for the proceeds of a legal settlement, a $6 million charitable contribution to the Farmers Charitable Foundation, $21 million in legal expenses associated with the legal settlement and gains of $19,000 on the sale of assets. Excluding those items, Farmers would have reported a $64 million net income for 2022, or $1.89 per share.

Securities available for sale decreased by $27.1 million in the fourth quarter to $1.27 billion from the $1.3 billion total in the third quarter. Helmick primarily attributed the decrease to runoff and the sale of securities during the quarter, offset by improvement in the gross unrealized loss, which was $266.5 million in the fourth quarter, compared with $290.1 million at the end of September 2022. Farmers reported a gross unrealized gain of $11.7 million at the end of 2021.

The net interest margin was 2.99% for the fourth quarter, compared with 3.21% in the third quarter and 3.33% for the fourth quarter of 2021. Net interest income decreased to $29.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2022 from $29.7 million for the quarter ending 2021.

Total noninterest expense decreased to $21.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2022, compared with $27.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2021.
The complete report is available HERE.

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.