Civista Bancshares reported first-quarter 2026 net income of $15.0 million, up $4.8 million, or 47%, from $10.2 million a year earlier and up $2.7 million, or 22%, from $12.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Diluted earnings per share rose to $0.72 from $0.66 in the first quarter of 2025 and from $0.61 in the prior quarter. The company said the quarter included about $0.4 million of non-recurring acquisition-related adjustments tied to the Farmers Savings Bank merger, equal to about $0.02 per share.
Net interest income climbed to $37.8 million, a gain of $5.1 million, or 15.4%, from the first quarter of 2025 and up $1.4 million, or 3.8%, from the fourth quarter of 2025. Net interest margin expanded to 3.85%, up 34 basis points from 3.51% a year earlier and 16 basis points from 3.69% in the prior quarter.
Funding costs moved lower. Cost of funds fell to 196 basis points from 231 basis points a year earlier and from 208 basis points in the fourth quarter. Cost of deposits declined to 181 basis points from 200 basis points a year earlier and from 192 basis points sequentially.
Non-interest income increased to $9.4 million, up $1.6 million, or 20%, from the same quarter last year. Non-interest expense rose to $29.9 million, up $2.7 million, or 10.1%, with $0.4 million of that increase tied to acquisition-related expenses.
The efficiency ratio improved to 60.1% from 64.9% a year earlier. Return on average assets increased to 1.41% from 1.00% and return on average equity rose to 10.97% from 10.39%.
Total assets were $4.3 billion at March 31, 2026, down $38.1 million, or 0.9%, from December 31, 2025. Loans and leases fell $40.4 million, or 1.2%, over the same period.
Deposits increased $35.4 million, or 1.0%, to $3.5 billion. Interest-bearing demand deposits rose $18.9 million and savings and money market balances increased $56.7 million, while time deposits fell $16.9 million. Brokered deposits declined $25.0 million to $377.1 million, and short-term FHLB advances dropped $75.0 million to $100.0 million.
Credit provision improved sharply, swinging to a $0.6 million credit from a $1.6 million expense a year earlier. Net charge-offs were $0.7 million, versus $0.6 million in the first quarter of 2025. Non-performing assets declined to $30.2 million from $31.2 million at year-end, and the ratio of non-performing assets to assets improved to 0.70% from 0.72%.
The allowance for credit losses to loans ratio was 1.26%, down from 1.30% a year earlier and 1.28% at year-end. The allowance for credit losses stood at $40.5 million, up slightly from $40.3 million a year earlier but down from $42.0 million at December 31, 2025.
Tangible book value per share was $19.70 at March 31, 2026. Civista raised its quarterly cash dividend to $0.18 per share from $0.17 in the prior quarter. Based on the March 31 closing price of $22.79, that dividend equates to an annualized yield of 3.16% and a payout ratio of 24.91%.
Shareholders’ equity increased $8.8 million from year-end to $552.2 million, driven by an $11.3 million rise in retained earnings, partly offset by a $2.9 million increase in accumulated other comprehensive loss. Following these announcements, the company's shares moved 0.67%, and are now trading at a price of $22.58. For more information, read the company's full 8-K submission here.
