First Merchants Corporation Announces Second Quarter 2024 Earnings Per Share

MUNCIE, Ind., July 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ - FRME)

Second Quarter 2024 Highlights:

Mark Hardwick, Chief Executive Officer, stated, "We are pleased that net interest margin improved by 6 basis points over the first quarter of 2024 and that net interest income increased by $1.5 million over the same period. Non-interest income and non-interest expense also compared favorably helping the company produce an efficiency ratio better than our stated key performance indicator of less than 55 percent." Hardwick added, "The elevated provision expense driven by higher than normal net charge-off’s was the singular item that weakened our performance in the quarter."