PASCAGOULA, Miss., May 06, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Merchants & Marine Bancorp, Inc. (OTCQX: MNMB), the parent company of Merchants & Marine Bank, reported net income for the first quarter of 2025 of $814 thousand, or $0.61 per share, compared with earnings of $687 thousand, or $0.52 per share, in the same period of the prior year. Net income available to common shareholders, net of preferred dividends, totaled $0.42 per share. Gross income in the first quarter totaled $11.51 million, a slight decrease of 1.19% from the prior year. Balance sheet footings increased by 8.50% to $730.27 million during the 12 months ended March 31, 2025. Net loans grew to $460.15 million during the year from $416.65 million at the end of the same period in the prior year, an increase of 10.44%. Total deposits increased 21.09% from the same period in the prior year, from $485.15 million to $587.49 million. Balance sheet growth, and the significant increase in one-time non-interest expenses during the past 12 months, was driven primarily by the acquisition of Mississippi River Bank, which was completed on April 10, 2024. It should also be noted that the company repaid the Bank Term Funding facility from the Federal Reserve during the latter half of 2024, resulting in a net impact of ($50MM) to the balance sheet.
Selected financial highlights:
Net loans grew by $43.50 million, or 10.44% during the 12 months ended March 31, 2025.
Total interest income during the first quarter increased to $9.46 million from $8.63 million during the same period in 2024, a lift of 9.65%. The increase is primarily due to increased interest income on loans, which increased to $8.14 million in the first quarter of 2025 from $7.07 million during the first quarter of 2024. This increase is due both to improved loan yields in the company’s legacy loan portfolio and to the acquisition of the Mississippi River Bank portfolio in April 2024.
The company’s cost of funding its assets decreased for Q1 2025, and remains at industry lows. Interest expense as a function of total assets dropped to 33 basis points in Q1 2025 from 65 basis points in Q1 2024. The decrease in funding costs is primarily due to the company’s full repayment of the Federal Reserve Bank Term Funding Program (BTFP). All liabilities under the BTFP were repaid from excess on balance sheet liquidity in September 2024 in concert with the Federal Open Market Committee lowering its Federal Funds target rate by 50 BPs.
Credit quality remained strong at the end of the first quarter. The ratio of loans past due 30-89 days decreased to 0.57% of total loans at the end of the first quarter from 1.13% at year-end 2024. The ratio of non-accrual loans declined in the same period, totaling 0.59% of total loans at the end of the first quarter compared to 0.93% at year-end 2024.
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (AOCI) mark-to-market losses in the securities portfolio improved slightly to ($8.17 million) at the end of the first quarter of 2025 from ($9.16 million) at the end of the same period in 2024. These losses represent just 5.79% and 6.35% the total securities portfolio for these reporting periods, respectively.
On balance sheet liquidity levels remain healthy, with cash and cash equivalents totaling $48.98 million at the end of the first quarter of 2025. In addition to these large cash balances, the Company’s $141 million investment portfolio remains highly liquid, with a significant portion of the portfolio able to be liquidated with minimal losses.
In addition to the sizeable on-balance sheet liquidity position, the Company has more than $200 million in additional borrowing capacity at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas and the Federal Reserve.
"As we continue to institute maximal pricing discipline in our loan portfolio, and as we see our non-bank brand models begin to mature, the company continues to set new records with regard to top line revenue," remarked Casey Hill, the company’s Chief Financial Officer. He continued, "Total interest income for the first quarter exceeded $9.46 million, which is especially strong in a quarter that is typically our thinnest of the year due to interest accrual methodologies."
"In addition to strong and strengthening margin income from our traditional bank brands, we also saw our still somewhat-nascent Voyager Lending brand post a quarterly profit," said Hill. "The ramp-up and build out of this brand has been impressive, and we’re very proud of the leadership of the executives in that brand. We’ve also seen a lot of progress in our Canvas Mortgage and CannaFirst Financial brands. The march through the investment curve on all of these has been impressive of late. Of course, our Merchants & Marine Bank and Mississippi River Bank brands continue to be earnings juggernauts. Our focus continues to be on supporting the bank brands, continuing to develop our non-bank fee-driving brands, and on identifying new partners to add to our growing family of brands," concluded Hill.
"We are very proud of our team’s strong start to the year, and of the position of strength that their efforts allow us to operate from," commented Clayton Legear, the company’s Chief Executive Officer. "As we continue to see volatility and uncertainty increasing in financial markets, we remain focused on executing against our long-term financial plan. Continuing to maintain and leverage our ‘Battle Ready Balance Sheet,’ nurturing our thriving bank brands, and guiding the continued maturation of our non-bank brands – and the diversified revenue streams they offer – will remain key priorities for our team throughout 2025. We remain very optimistic about our company’s future, and the ongoing growth of our family of brands."
Merchants & Marine Bancorp, Inc. (OTCQX: MNMB) is the parent company of Merchants & Marine Bank, a Mississippi chartered community bank serving the Gulf South region. Originally founded in 1899, Merchants & Marine Bank was reborn in 1932 during the middle of the worst economic disaster in the history of the United States: The Great Depression. More than eight decades later, Merchants & Marine Bank has grown from $25,000 to nearly $800 million in assets. The bank offers banking services to customers in Southern Mississippi and Coastal Alabama under its legacy Merchants & Marine Bank brand, and in Southern Louisiana through its Mississippi River Bank brand. It offers mortgage financing through its Canvas Mortgage brand, medical cannabis banking through its CannaFirst Financial brand, and access to government-guaranteed credit through its Voyager Lending brand. It provides bank operational, risk, and support services through its Community of Resources bank services brand. For more information on Merchants & Marine Bancorp, Inc., visit https://mandmbank.com/investor-relations.
