Company: FRME
Filing Date: 2025-10-30
Form Type: 10-Q
Source: 0000712534-25-000197
Chunk: 89

Company: FIRST MERCHANTS CORP
Filing Date: 2025-10-30
Form: 10-Q
Item: Part I, Item 1
Chunk 89
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 a $7.6 million, or 30.6 percent, increase compared to the same period in 2024.  Customer related fees totaling $29.3 million for the three months ended September 30, 2025 remained stable as compared to the same period in the prior year. The third quarter of 2025 included no sales of available for sale securities, compared to $9.1 million in losses on sales of available for sale securities during the same period of 2024.  This increase was partially offset by a decrease of $1.8 million in net gains and fees on sales of loans for the three months ended September 30, 2025 compared to the same period in 2024.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2025, noninterest income totaled $93.8 million, representing an $11.0 million, or 13.3 percent, increase over the same period in 2024.  Customer related fees increased $3.5 million, including an increase in service charges on deposit accounts, derivative hedge fees and treasury management fees.  Additionally, the Company recognized $9.2 million of realized losses on sales of available for sales securities during the nine months ended September 30, 2024.  These increases were partially offset by a decrease in other income due to lower contributions from CRA-related activities.

NONINTEREST EXPENSE

Noninterest expense totaled $96.6 million for the three months ended September 30, 2025, a $1.9 million, or 2.0 percent, increase from the third quarter of 2024.  Salaries and employee benefits expense increased by $2.1 million, primarily due to higher salaries and incentives and severance costs during the three months ended September 30, 2025, compared to the same period in 2024. 

For the nine months ended September 30, 2025, noninterest expense remained flat at $283.1 million compared to the same period in 2024.  Modest increases in salaries and employee benefits, equipment and other expenses totaling $3.4 million were offset by comparable decreases in outside data processing fees, other real estate owned and foreclosure expense, and intangible asset amortization.  

INCOME TAXES

Income tax expense for the three months ended September 30, 2025 was $8.5 million on pre-tax income of $65.3 million.  For the same period in 2024, income tax