Farmers National Banc Corp. said first-quarter 2026 net income rose to $16.3 million from $13.6 million a year earlier, while diluted earnings per share held at $0.36. Excluding $4.0 million of acquisition and core conversion costs tied to Middlefield Banc Corp., adjusted net income was $20.0 million and adjusted EPS was $0.45.
The company closed the Middlefield acquisition on March 2, and the deal quickly reshaped the balance sheet. Total assets climbed to $7.18 billion at March 31, 2026, from $5.25 billion at Dec. 31, 2025. Total loans, net of allowance, increased to $4.75 billion from $3.27 billion, while total deposits rose to $5.92 billion from $4.34 billion. Stockholders’ equity increased to $766.9 million from $485.7 million.
Middlefield contributed $1.82 billion of assets, $1.49 billion of loans and $1.49 billion of deposits. Securities available for sale increased to $1.48 billion from $1.34 billion, with Middlefield adding $152.8 million.
Net interest income rose to $42.6 million from $34.2 million a year earlier. Average interest-earning assets increased to $5.55 billion from $4.89 billion. The net interest margin widened to 3.12% from 2.85% in the first quarter of 2025 and from 3.05% in the fourth quarter of 2025. The yield on interest-earning assets improved to 4.89% from 4.74%, while the cost of interest-bearing liabilities fell to 2.35% from 2.52%.
Noninterest income increased to $13.7 million from $10.5 million. Service charge income rose to $2.0 million from $1.8 million, bank owned life insurance income jumped to $1.5 million from $810,000, trust fees increased to $3.0 million from $2.6 million, and investment commissions were up $342,000. Losses on securities sales narrowed sharply to $18,000 from $1.3 million.
Noninterest expense increased to $37.3 million from $28.5 million. Salaries and employee benefits rose to $18.5 million from $16.2 million, occupancy and equipment expense increased by $988,000, FDIC insurance and state and local taxes climbed to $1.6 million from $1.3 million, core processing expense rose to $1.8 million from $1.4 million, and other noninterest expense increased by $650,000 to $3.8 million.
Credit quality weakened in part because of the acquisition. Nonperforming loans increased to $59.9 million from $26.2 million at year-end, and nonperforming loans as a percentage of total loans rose to 1.25% from 0.79%. Loans 30 to 89 days delinquent fell to $14.7 million from $16.9 million. The allowance for credit losses to total loans was 1.14% at March 31, 2026, up from 1.11% at Dec. 31, 2025.
The company recorded a $1.0 million recovery for credit losses and unfunded commitments in the quarter, compared with a $204,000 recovery a year earlier. Annualized net charge-offs were 0.05% of average loans, up from 0.04%.
Liquidity remained substantial, with $788.9 million of additional FHLB borrowing capacity and $446.6 million of available-for-sale securities available for pledging. The loan-to-deposit ratio was 81.1% at quarter-end. Following these announcements, the company's shares moved 0.93%, and are now trading at a price of $13.01. For more information, read the company's full 8-K submission here.
