MUNCIE, Ind., July 26, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ - FRME)

Second Quarter 2022 Highlights:

Net income available to common stockholders was $38.5 million and diluted earnings per common share totaled $.63, compared to $55.6 million and $1.03 in the second quarter of 2021, and $48.6 million and $.91 in the first quarter of 2022.

Completed legal closing on the acquisition of Level One Bancorp, Inc. (“Level One”) on April 1, 2022.

Adjusted net income1 was $60.0 million and adjusted diluted earnings per share1 totaled $1.01, compared to $48.2 million and $.89 in the second quarter of 2021, and $47.3 million and $.88 in the first quarter of 2022.

Total loans grew $2.0 billion during the second quarter which included $1.6 billion from the acquisition of Level One. Excluding the forgiveness of $59.2 million in Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loans, organic loan growth totaled $468.3 million or 20.1% annualized on a linked quarter basis.

Total deposits grew $1.7 billion during the second quarter which included $1.9 billion from the acquisition of Level One reflecting a decline in deposit balances of $265.9 million or 8.2% annualized on a linked quarter basis.

Nonaccrual loans totaled $46.0 million compared to $42.7 million on a linked quarter basis

Net interest income totaled $128.7 million, an increase of $26.4 million or 25.8% on a linked quarter basis

Mark Hardwick, Chief Executive Officer, stated, “First Merchants is encouraged by second quarter annualized organic loan growth of 20 percent combined with core margin expansion of 22 basis points. The legal close of Level One was a key accomplishment of our second quarter improving our prospects for future growth.”

Second Quarter Financial Results

First Merchants Corporation (the “Corporation”) has reported second quarter 2022 net income available to common stockholders of $38.5 million compared to $55.6 million during the same period in 2021. Diluted earnings per common share for the period totaled $.63 per share compared to the second quarter of 2021 result of $1.03 per share. Current quarter results included acquisition costs of $29.3 million resulting in a reduction of $.38 of diluted earnings per common share. The acquisition costs primarily consist of employee retention bonuses and severance, contract termination charges, professional fees, and current expected credit losses (“CECL”) Day 1 provision expense.

Total assets equaled $17.8 billion as of quarter-end and loans totaled $11.4 billion. Total loans increased $2.3 billion during the past twelve months. The acquisition of Level One contributed $1.6 billion of loans. Excluding acquired loans, the Corporation experienced organic loan growth of $1.1 billion, or 12.1 percent, during the past twelve months. This was offset by the forgiveness of PPP loans of $426.4 million. PPP loans accounted for $32.9 million of the period end loan portfolio balance. Investments increased $481.7 million, or 11.6 percent, during the last twelve months and now total $4.6 billion.

Total deposits equaled $14.6 billion as of quarter-end and increased by $2.4 billion over the past twelve months. The acquisition of Level One contributed $1.9 billion in deposits resulting in $436.7 million or 3.6% in organic deposit growth. The balance sheet growth mix resulted in an increase in the loan to deposit ratio of 3.4% over the past twelve months with the current quarter ratio ending at 78.3 percent.

The Corporation’s Allowance for Credit Losses – Loans (ACL) totaled $226.3 million as of quarter-end, or 1.98 percent of total loans, an increase of $30.3 million over prior quarter due to the acquisition of Level One. The ACL increased $16.6 million for CECL Day 1 purchased credit deteriorated (PCD) loans and provision expense of $14.0 million was recorded for CECL Day 1 non-PCD loans. Additionally, provision expense of $2.8 million was recorded for CECL Day 1 unfunded commitments, which increased other liabilities. Net loan charge-offs for the quarter totaled $0.3 million. No provision expense was recorded during the quarter or during the last twelve months other than CECL Day 1 expense. Non-performing assets to total assets were 0.30% for the second quarter of 2022, a decrease of nine basis points compared to 0.39% in the second quarter of 2021.

Net-interest income totaling $128.7 million for the quarter, continued to grow with an increase of $26.4 million, or 25.8 percent, over prior quarter, and an increase of $24.4 million, or 23.4 percent compared to the second quarter of 2021. Stated net-interest margin on a tax equivalent basis, totaling 3.28 percent, increased by 25 basis points compared to the first quarter of 2022 and six basis points compared to the second quarter of 2021. Net-interest margin excluding the impact of fair value accretion and PPP loans totaled 3.19%, an increase of 22 basis points compared to 2.97% for the first quarter of 2022 and an increase of 19 basis points from the second quarter of 2021. During the quarter, net-interest margin expanded 35 basis points from growth in the loan portfolio and higher loan and investment portfolio yields offset by a 10 basis point increase in funding costs.

Non-interest income, totaling $28.3 million for the quarter, increased $2.4 million or 9.2% compared to the first quarter of 2022. The increase was driven by higher services charges on deposits, gains on the sales of loans and derivative hedge fees. Non-interest income declined $2.6 million from the second quarter of 2021 due primarily to a decline on gains on the sale of loans driven by lower origination volume.

Non-interest expense totaled $97.3 million for the quarter, an increase of $25.0 million from the first quarter of 2022, and an increase of $28.0 million over the second quarter of 2021. Acquisition costs totaling $12.5 million were incurred during the quarter of which $10.0 million were one-time charges, $3.0 million reflected in salaries and benefits and $7.0 million in professional and other outside services.

The Corporation’s total risk-based capital ratio equaled 12.73 percent, common equity tier 1 capital ratio equaled 10.27 percent, and the tangible common equity ratio totaled 7.04 percent. These ratios continue to reflect the Corporation’s strong liquidity and capital positions.

1 See “Non-GAAP Financial Information” for reconciliation

CONFERENCE CALL

First Merchants Corporation will conduct a second quarter earnings conference call and web cast at 10:30 a.m. (ET) on Tuesday, July 26, 2022.

To access via phone, participants will need to register using the following link where they will be provided a phone number and access code: (https://register.vevent.com/register/BI36331b98cb7441deb05fe5de007c8125)

In order to view the webcast and presentation slides, please go to (https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/944s4zom) during the time of the call. A replay of the webcast will be available until July 26, 2023.

Detailed financial results are reported on the attached pages.

About First Merchants Corporation

First Merchants Corporation is a financial holding company headquartered in Muncie, Indiana. The Corporation has one full-service bank charter, First Merchants Bank. The Bank also operates as First Merchants Private Wealth Advisors and Level One Bank (as divisions of First Merchants Bank).

First Merchants Corporation’s common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market System under the symbol FRME. Quotations are carried in daily newspapers and can be found on the company’s Internet web page (http://www.firstmerchants.com).

FIRST MERCHANTS and the Shield Logo are federally registered trademarks of First Merchants Corporation.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements can often, but not always, be identified by the use of words like “believe”, “continue”, “pattern”, “estimate”, “project”, “intend”, “anticipate”, “expect” and similar expressions or future or conditional verbs such as “will”, “would”, “should”, “could”, “might”, “can”, “may”, or similar expressions. These statements include statements of First Merchants’ goals, intentions and expectations; statements regarding the First Merchants’ business plan and growth strategies; statements regarding the asset quality of First Merchants’ loan and investment portfolios; and estimates of First Merchants’ risks and future costs and benefits. These forward-looking statements are subject to significant risks, assumptions and uncertainties that may cause results to differ materially from those set forth in forward-looking statements, including, among other things: possible changes in monetary and fiscal policies, and laws and regulations; the effects of easing restrictions on participants in the financial services industry; the cost and other effects of legal and administrative cases; possible changes in the credit worthiness of customers and the possible impairment of collectability of loans; fluctuations in market rates of interest; competitive factors in the banking industry; changes in the banking legislation or regulatory requirements of federal and state agencies applicable to bank holding companies and banks like First Merchants’ affiliate bank; continued availability of earnings and excess capital sufficient for the lawful and prudent declaration of dividends; changes in market, economic, operational, liquidity, credit and interest rate risks associated with the First Merchants’ business; and other risks and factors identified in each of First Merchants’ filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. First Merchants does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, relating to the matters discussed in this press release. In addition, First Merchants’ past results of operations do not necessarily indicate its anticipated future results.

To access the full release and exhibits, please visit https://ir.firstmerchants.com/news-releases/news-release-details/first-merchants-corporation-announces-second-quarter-2022.

For more information, contact:
Nicole M. Weaver, Vice President and Director of Corporate Administration
765-521-7619 
https://www.firstmerchants.com