First Niles Financial Reports Q4, Year-End Earnings

NILES, Ohio – First Niles Financial Inc., the holding company for Home Federal Savings and Loan Association of Niles, recorded net income of $76,000 for the quarter ended Dec. 31, as compared to a net loss of $10,000 in the comparative quarter one year ago.

For the year ended Dec. 31, the company recorded net income of $586,000, or 48 cents per common share, compared to net income of $302,000, or 27 cents per common share for the year ended Dec. 31, 2020.

Return on average assets in the fourth quarter was 0.26%, and 0.50% for all of 2021. Return on average assets for Q4 was negative 0.4%, and 0.29%for the year.

Net interest income after the provision for loan losses for the fourth quarter of 2021 was $633,000 as compared to $508,000 for the same quarter in 2020. Net interest income after the provision for loan losses for the year was $2.13 million, compared to $2.09 million in 2020.

Non-interest income for the fourth quarter was $1.79 million, compared to $10,000 for the same period in 2020. Non-interest income for all of 2021 was $3.51 million compared to $213,000 for 2020. In both periods presented, the increase in non-interest income was attributable to an increase in net gains on the sale of loans attributable to the association’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Union Capital Mortgage Corp., acquired Aug. 2, 2021.

Non-interest expense for Q4 was $2.34 million, compared to $539,000 in 2020, an increase of $1.8 million. Non-interest expense for the year was $4.92 million compared to $1.94 million for 2020. These increases also are directly related to the operations of Union Capital Mortgage Corp.

Non-performing loans, consisting of non-accruing loans and accruing loans delinquent more than 90 days decreased to $450,000 at Dec. 31, or 0.6% of net loans receivable from $732,000, or 1.0% of net loans receivable at Dec. 31. The allowance for loan losses totaled $577,000 at Dec., which represented 128.1% of non-performing loans and 0.8% of net loans receivable. At Dec. 31, the allowance for loan losses was $557,000, representing 76.1% of non-performing loans and 0.8% of net loans receivable.

At Dec. 31, the company had total assets of $124.5 million, $14.8 million greater than at Dec. 31, 2020. During the year, net loans receivable increased by $2.0 million and total investment securities increased by $3.0 million. Cash and cash equivalents increased by $3.9 million during 2021. Deposits increased by $14.3 million, or 21.6%, during 2021.

Total equity at December 31, 2021 was $15.3 million, or 12.3% of total assets, compared to $12.9 million, or 11.8% of total assets, at Dec. 31.

Pictured at top: First Niles Financial Inc. headquarters at 55 N. Main St., Niles.

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.