At December 31, 2018, our investment in bank-owned life insurance was $8.9 million, an increase of $135,000 from $8.8 million at June 30, 2018. We invest in bank-owned life insurance to provide us with a funding source for our benefit plan obligations. Bank-owned life insurance also generally provides us noninterest income that isnon-taxable. Federal regulations generally limit our investment in bank-owned life insurance to 25% of our Tier 1 capital plus our allowance for loan losses, which resulted in a limit of $20.4 million at December 31, 2018.
Deposits increased $13.3 million, or 2.8%, to $493.7 million at December 31, 2018 from $480.4 million at June 30, 2018. Certificates of deposit, excluding brokered certificates of deposit, increased $18.8 million, or 8.2%, to $248.0 million, while brokered certificates of deposit increased $7.2 million, or 20.9%, to $41.5 million. Savings, NOW, and money market accounts decreased $14.2 million, or 7.3%, to $181.2 million, and noninterest bearing demand accounts increased $1.6 million, or 7.5%, to $23.0 million. Repurchase agreements increased $559,000, or 24.5%, to $2.8 million at December 31, 2018, from $2.3 million at June 30, 2018. Borrowings, which consisted solely of advances from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, increased $14.0 million, or 20.7%, to $81.5 million at December 31, 2018 from $67.5 million at June 30, 2018.
Advances from borrowers for taxes and insurance increased $831,000, or 268.9%, to $1.1 million at December 31, 2018, from $309,000 at June 30, 2018. Accrued interest payable increased $279,000, or 148.4%, to $467,000 at December 31, 2018, from $188,000 at June 30, 2018. Other liabilities decreased $479,000, or 12.7%, to $3.3 million at December 31, 2018 from $3.8 million on June 30, 2018. The increase in advances from borrowers for taxes and insurance was attributable to the timing of the payment of real estate taxes and insurance, and the increase in accrued interest payable resulted from increases in both the average balance and average cost of interest-bearing liabilities. The decrease in other liabilities was the result of a large payable at June 30, 2018 related to the credit discussed in the “Overview” above, that was cleared when the 45 properties moved to foreclosed asset held for sale in July, 2018.
Total equity decreased $3.2 million, or 3.9%, to $78.5 million at December 31, 2018 from $81.7 million at June 30, 2018. Equity decreased due to the repurchase of 255,000 shares of common stock at an aggregate cost of approximately $5.4 million and the payment of approximately $453,000 in dividends to our shareholders, partially offset by net income of $1.7 million, an increase of $673,000 in accumulated other comprehensive income, net of tax, and ESOP and stock equity plan activity of $335,000. The Company announced a stock repurchase plan on December 5, 2018, whereby the Company could repurchase up to 290,356 shares of its common stock, or approximately 7.5% of the then current outstanding shares. As of December 31, 2018, 255,000 shares had been repurchased under this plan at an average price of $21.30 per share, and there are 35,356 shares that may yet be repurchased under the plan.
Comparison of Operating Results for the Six Months Ended December 31, 2018 and 2017
General. Net income increased $1.5 million to $1.7 million for the six months ended December 31, 2018 from $247,000 for the six months ended December 31, 2017. The increase in net income was largely due to the adjustment to the DTA in the six months ended December 31, 2017, as discussed above under “Overview”. The increase in net income was also due to an increase in net interest income, an increase in noninterest income, and a decrease in provision for income taxes, partially offset by an increase in provision for loan losses and an increase in noninterest expense.
Net Interest Income.Net interest income increased $95,000, or 1.1%, to $9.0 million for the six months ended December 31, 2018 from $8.9 million for the six months ended December 31, 2017. This was a result of an increase of $1.9 million in interest and dividend income, partially offset by an increase of $1.8 million in interest expense. A $43.8 million, or 7.5%, increase in the average balance of interest earning assets was offset by a $48.0 million, or 9.6%, increase in average balance of interest bearing liabilities. Our interest rate spread decreased by 24 basis points to 2.63% for the six months ended December 31, 2018 compared to 2.87% for the six months ended December 31, 2017, and our net interest margin decreased by 18 basis points to 2.84% for the six months ended December 31, 2018 compared to 3.02% for the six months ended December 31, 2017.
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