Farmers & Merchants Bancorp(FMAO) Globenewswire·2025-02-12 21:30Core Viewpoint - Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, Inc. reported strong financial performance for 2024, driven by strategic execution and improvements in profitability, asset quality, and operational efficiencies [4][8]. Financial Performance - Net income for Q4 2024 was $8.4 million, a 51.2% increase from $5.5 million in Q4 2023, with earnings per share rising to $0.61 from $0.41 [5][8]. - For the full year 2024, net income reached $25.9 million, up from $22.8 million in 2023, with earnings per share increasing to $1.90 from $1.67 [5][8]. Deposits and Liabilities - Total deposits at year-end 2024 were a record $2.69 billion, reflecting a 3.0% increase from $2.61 billion at the end of 2023 [6][8]. - The cost of interest-bearing liabilities was 3.12% for 2024, up from 2.53% in the previous year, influenced by a higher rate environment [6][8]. Loan Portfolio and Asset Quality - Total loans, net decreased by 0.7% year-over-year to $2.56 billion, primarily due to lower consumer and agricultural real estate loans, partially offset by increases in commercial loans [9][10]. - Nonperforming loans were only $3.1 million, or 0.12% of total loans, significantly down from $22.4 million, or 0.87% at the end of 2023 [10][8]. Efficiency and Profitability - The efficiency ratio improved to 59.82% from 69.23% a year ago, indicating better operational efficiency [8]. - Net interest margin increased by 27 basis points to 2.84% [8]. Stockholders' Equity and Dividends - Total stockholders' equity rose by 5.9% to $335.2 million at year-end 2024, with a Tier 1 leverage ratio of 8.12% [12][8]. - The company declared cash dividends of $0.8825 per share for 2024, marking a 3.8% increase over the previous year, and representing the 30th consecutive annual increase in dividends [14][8].