First Northern Community Bancorp Reports First Quarter 2024 Net Income of $4.3 Million

First Northern Community Bancorp (the “Company”, OTCQX: FNRN), holding company for First Northern Bank (“First Northern” or the “Bank”), today reported net income of $4.3 million, or $0.28 per diluted share, for the three months ended March 31, 2024, down 22.1% compared to net income of $5.5 million, or $0.36 per diluted share, for the three months ended March 31, 2023.

Net income for the three months ended March 31, 2023, included the bargain purchase gain resulting from our acquisition of three branches completed in the first quarter of 2023. On an after-tax basis, the bargain purchase gain contributed $1.0 million to net income for the three months ended March 31, 2023, or $0.07 per share.

Total assets as of March 31, 2024, were $1.89 billion, a decrease of $16.2 million, or 0.9%, compared to March 31, 2023. Total deposits as of March 31, 2024, were $1.71 billion, a decrease of $42.2 million, or 2.4%, compared to March 31, 2023. Total net loans (including loans held-for-sale) as of March 31, 2024, were $1.05 billion, an increase of $72.7 million, or 7.5%, compared to total net loans (including loans held-for-sale) of $974.6 million as of March 31, 2023. The increase in net loans was primarily driven by growth in commercial real estate, residential mortgage and commercial loans partially offset by net reductions in agricultural loans.

The Company continued to be “well capitalized” under regulatory definitions, exceeding the 10% total risk-based capital ratio threshold as of March 31, 2024.

Commenting on the Company’s financial results, First Northern’s President & Chief Executive Officer Jeremiah Smith stated, “We are pleased with our performance in the first quarter with average loans increasing by 8.8% which drove an increase in interest income on loans of 18.4% compared to the same period last year. We continued to effectively manage our overall cost of deposits with 44% of our quarterly average funding derived from non-interest-bearing transaction accounts enabling the Company to keep our cost of funds at a remarkably low 0.76% for the quarter. Our focus on improving operating efficiency continues, resulting in a year-over-year decrease in total non-interest expenses, despite an inflationary environment, primarily attributed to a 2.0% decline in salaries and benefits expense compared to the same period in 2023. We remain committed to improving shareholder value, and as of March 31, 2024, our book value per share rose to $10.44, largely due to earnings retention.”