Business
First Farmers and Merchants Corporation Reports Record Second Quarter Results
First Farmers and Merchants Corporation Reports Record Second Quarter Results.
About this update from First Farmers & Merchants Corp.
[{"type":"text","content":"\nFirst Farmers and Merchants Corporation (OTC Pink: FFMH), the holding company for First Farmers and Merchants Bank, today announced record net income for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021.\n\nKey highlights of First Farmers’ results for the second quarter of 2021 include:\n\n\nNet income rose 36.3% to $5.5 million from $4.0 million for the year-earlier quarter. Net income per common share increased 37.0% to $1.26 from $0.92 in the second quarter of 2020. Net income rose 82% from $3.0 million, or $0.69 per common share, reported in the first quarter of 2021;\n\n\nAdjusted net income, which excludes special items, rose 13.7% to $3.9 million, or $0.90 per common share, compared with $3.4 million, or $0.79 per common share, for the year-earlier quarter. Second quarter adjusted income rose 3.3% from $2.9 million, or $0.67 per common share, reported in the first quarter of 2021 (see non-GAAP reconciliation);\n\n\nRecorded a one-time gain of $1.3 million, net of tax, on the sale of the Company’s Visa Class B common stock (“Visa stock”);\n\n\nNet interest income increased 2.4% to $11.2 million from $10.9 million for the year-earlier quarter and was up 5.6% from $10.6 million for the first quarter of 2021;\n\n\nTotal nonperforming assets remained at a low level of $1.3 million, or 0.07% of total assets; and\n\n\nTotal deposits rose 5.5% to $1.7 billion from $1.6 billion at December 31, 2020.\n\n\nCommenting on the results, T. Randy Stevens, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of First Farmers, said, “We are very pleased to report record net income and earnings per share for the second quarter and first six months of 2021. Our team at First Farmers has done an outstanding job in growing and supporting our customer base.”\n\n“We continue to use our earnings and strong capital position to build shareholder returns through repurchases of First Farmers’ stock. During the second quarter, we increased our stock repurchases to 10,900 shares, a significant increase over our first quarter purchases of 930 shares. We remain optimistic about our continued growth in 2021 based on improved economic trends, growth in our loan pipeline, improvements in our net interest margin and the continuation of good credit trends,” concluded Stevens.\n\nBrian K. Williams, President, added, “Our exc...