ChoiceOne Reports Third Quarter 2025 Results

Core Insights - ChoiceOne Financial Services reported strong financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2025, with net income of $14.68 million, significantly up from $7.35 million in the same period last year, driven by the strategic merger with Fentura Financial [3][7] - The company’s total assets reached $4.3 billion, an increase of $1.6 billion compared to the previous year, primarily due to the merger [4][11] - Diluted earnings per share rose to $0.97 for the third quarter of 2025, compared to $0.85 in the same period last year [3][7] Financial Performance - Net income for the nine months ended September 30, 2025, was $14.31 million, compared to $19.57 million in the prior year [3][7] - Excluding merger-related expenses, net income was $14.68 million for the third quarter and $37.66 million for the nine months [3][7] - The company’s net interest margin increased to 3.73% from 3.17% year-over-year, with net interest income rising to $37.6 million from $20.2 million [7][9] Asset and Loan Growth - Total assets increased to $4.3 billion, with core loans growing by $1.4 billion due to the merger [4][5] - Core loans, excluding held-for-sale loans, declined by $10.3 million or 1.4% on an annualized basis in Q3 2025 but grew organically by $65.3 million or 4.5% year-over-year [5][7] - Loan interest income increased by $23.9 million in Q3 2025 compared to the same period in 2024 [5][7] Deposit Trends - Deposits, excluding brokered deposits, increased by $1.3 billion year-over-year, largely due to the merger [6][8] - Non-interest-bearing deposits decreased by $39.9 million, while interest-bearing demand deposits increased by $73.4 million in Q3 2025 [6][8] - The average balance of non-interest-bearing deposits rose to $930.3 million in Q3 2025, up from $915.6 million in Q2 2025 [6][8] Noninterest Income and Expenses - Noninterest income increased by $2.3 million and $5.6 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2025, respectively, driven by higher interchange income and trust income [12][13] - Noninterest expenses rose by $10.8 million and $44.0 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2025, primarily due to merger-related expenses [13][14] Capital and Asset Quality - Shareholders' equity increased to $449.6 million from $247.7 million year-over-year, driven by the merger [11][12] - The allowance for credit losses to total loans ratio was 1.19% as of September 30, 2025, indicating strong asset quality [10][11] - Nonperforming loans to total loans stood at 0.69%, with 0.39% attributed to loans purchased with credit deterioration through the merger [10][11]