Business
First Farmers and Merchants Corporation Reports First Quarter Net Income up 30.5% to $4.5 Million
First Farmers and Merchants Corporation Reports First Quarter Net Income up 30.5% to $4.5 Million.
About this update from First Farmers & Merchants Corp.
[{"type":"text","content":"\r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n First Farmers and Merchants Corporation Reports First Quarter Net Income up 30.5% to $4.5 Million\r\n \r\n \r\n\r\n\r\nFirst Farmers and Merchants Corporation Reports First Quarter Net Income up 30.5% to $4.5 Million\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nNet Interest Margin grows to 3.02%\r\n\r\n COLUMBIA, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\r\nFirst Farmers and Merchants Corporation (OTC Pink: FFMH), the holding company for First Farmers and Merchants Bank, today announced its results for the first quarter of 2025.\r\n\r\n \r\n“First Farmers net income rose 30.5% to $4.5 million and net income per share was up 35.3% to $1.11 for the first quarter of 2025 compared with the prior year’s first quarter,” stated Brian K. Williams, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of First Farmers. “Our continued earnings performance benefited from a 63-basis point increase in net interest margin to 3.02%. Contributing to this net interest margin expansion was a 40% drop in interest expense which boosted net interest income by 19% compared with the first quarter of 2024. Strategic balance sheet initiatives and continued growth in core deposits were major contributors to our lower interest expense compared with last year.\r\n\r\n \r\n“Our book value per share rose 23.2% to $36.85 at the end of the first quarter. This was the highest level since year-end 2020. We believe continued growth in earnings and book value per share contributed to our stock price rising to $38.25 per share in the open market as of the end of the first quarter of 2025, the highest level since the first quarter of 2020.\r\n\r\n \r\n“We experienced a modest pickup in loan demand with total loans rising $4.4 million in the first quarter. We see lending activity remaining constrained with current interest rate levels and ongoing uncertainty in the direction of the economy. We are also focused on maintaining our high asset quality and continue to be selective in lending to more volatile sectors of the commercial real estate market. Despite turbulence in the global and national economies, our local economy is dynamic, and our outlook for 2025 earnings growth remains favorable based on our strong balance sheet position and improved net interest margin, even though we expect loan demand to remain soft over the near term.”\r\n\r\n \r\nKey...