Provision for Loan Losses:
Juniata recorded a provision for credit losses of $239,000 in the six months ended June 30, 2024 compared to a provision for credit losses of $290,000 in the six months ended June 30, 2023.
Management regularly reviews the adequacy of the allowance for loan losses and makes assessments as to specific loan impairment, charge-off expectations, general economic conditions in the Bank’s market area, specific loan quality and other factors. See the earlier discussion in the Financial Condition section explaining the information used to determine the provision.
Non-interest Income:
Non-interest income was $2.8 million during the six months ended June 30, 2024 compared to $2.6 million during the six months ended June 30, 2023, an increase of $183,000, or 7.1%.
Most significantly impacting the comparative six month periods were increases of $165,000 in customer service fees and $152,000 in fees derived from loan activity primarily due to increases in title insurance commissions and guidance line and service fees. These increases were partially offset by a $161,000 decrease in life insurance proceeds as no proceeds were recorded in the 2024 period.
As a percentage of average assets, annualized non-interest income was 0.64% in the first six months of 2024 compared to 0.62% in the comparable 2023 period.
Non-interest Expense:
Non-interest expense was $10.3 million during the six months ended June 30, 2024 compared to $10.2 million during the six months ended June 30, 2023, an increase of $43,000, or 0.4%.
Most significantly impacting non-interest expense in the comparative six month periods were increases of $274,000 in salary expense due to annual salary increases and overtime pay from the core conversion in the first quarter of 2024, as well as an increase of $170,000 in other non-interest expense, primarily due to a $107,000 increase in the provision for unfunded commitments in the 2024 period. Also contributing to the increase in other non-interest expense in the six months ended June 30, 2024 compared to June 30, 2023 were increases of $110,000 in professional fees and $99,000 in FDIC insurance premiums due to an increase in the annual assessment rate for all institutions. These increases were partially offset by decreases of $306,000 in employee benefits expense, due to a decline in medical claims expense, and $209,000 recorded in the 2023 period due to the merger and acquisition expense from the Path Valley branch acquisition with no item in this category recorded in the 2024 period.
As a percentage of average assets, annualized non-interest expense was 2.38% during the six months ended June 30, 2024 compared to 2.46% during the six months ended June 30, 2023.
Provision for income taxes:
An income tax provision of $497,000 was recorded during the six months ended June 30, 2024 compared to an income tax provision of $398,000 recorded during the six months ended June 30, 2023. Juniata qualifies for a federal tax credit for investments in low-income housing partnerships. The tax credit decreased from $202,000 in the six months ended June 30, 2023 to $165,000 in the six months ended June 30, 2024 due to the completion of the amortization period for one of Juniata’s low-income housing partnership investments in January 2023.
The tax credit lowered the effective tax rate from 18.4% to 13.8% during the six months ended June 30, 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, when the tax credit lowered the effective tax rate from 17.0% to 11.3%.