First Merchants’ Adjusted EPS Climbs 11% as Revenue Gains 19.8%

First Merchants Corporation increased adjusted diluted earnings per share 11% year over year in the third quarter, while revenue climbed 19.8% to $199.073 million at the Indiana-based financial holding company.

Adjusted EPS reached $1.10 per diluted share, up from $0.99 in the year-ago quarter. Net income available to common stockholders totaled $67.847 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30. On a GAAP basis, diluted earnings were $1.09 per share, one cent below the adjusted measure.

Adjusted earnings exclude $862,000 in acquisition-related expenses, primarily for equipment and professional fees. The adjusted and GAAP figures therefore reflect different treatments of those costs.

Revenue rose from $166.142 million in the year-earlier quarter, an increase of $32.931 million. Net interest income contributed $161.068 million, while noninterest income totaled $38.005 million. Together, those categories made up the quarter’s $199.073 million in revenue.

Net interest margin, measured on a fully taxable equivalent basis, was 3.44%, up 20 basis points from a year earlier. First Merchants ended the quarter with $21.1 billion in assets and $15.6 billion in loans.

Chief Executive Officer Mark Hardwick said the company made “meaningful progress resolving the two commercial credits identified last quarter,” while nonperforming assets remained stable.