Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, Inc. Reports 2025 First-Quarter Financial Results

Core Viewpoint - Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, Inc. reported strong financial results for the first quarter of 2025, highlighting improvements in profitability, efficiency, and asset quality, driven by strategic priorities and local community banking services [2][10]. Financial Performance - Net income for Q1 2025 was $7.0 million, a 29.7% increase from$ 5.4 million in Q1 2024, with earnings per share rising to $0.51 from$ 0.39 [3][6]. - Total revenue increased by 16.7% year-over-year, while noninterest expense rose by 5.2%, leading to a 49.6% increase in pre-tax, pre-provision income [2][6]. - The net interest margin grew by 43 basis points year-over-year to 3.03%, reflecting effective loan repricing and disciplined loan origination [2][24]. Deposits and Cost of Funds - Total deposits reached $2.70 billion, marking a 3.0% increase from the previous year, with a reduction in the cost of interest-bearing liabilities to 2.76% from 3.06% [4][24]. - The company successfully optimized its deposit base, resulting in a decline of$ 19.5 million in more expensive time-account balances [5]. Loan Portfolio and Asset Quality - Total loans increased by 1.6% year-over-year to $2.58 billion, driven by growth in agricultural, commercial, and industrial loans [7][9]. - Nonperforming loans represented only 0.17% of total loans, indicating strong credit quality, down from 0.76% a year earlier [8][9]. Stockholders' Equity and Dividends - Total stockholders' equity increased by 8.5% to$ 344.6 million, with a Tier 1 leverage ratio of 8.44% [10][11]. - The company declared cash dividends of $0.22125 per share, a 0.6% increase from the same period last year, maintaining a commitment to returning capital to shareholders [12].