Net Income and Profitability
As shown in Table 1, net income for the third quarter and September YTD of $45.3 million and $146.1 million, respectively, increased $2.5 million, or 5.9%, as compared to the third quarter of 2020 and increased $27.9 million, or 23.6%, compared to September YTD 2020. Earnings per share of $0.83 for the third quarter was $0.04 higher than the third quarter of 2020, while earnings per share for the first nine months of 2021 of $2.68 was $0.46 higher than the first nine months of 2020. The increase in net income and earnings per share for the quarter was primarily the result of higher noninterest revenues, lower litigation accrual expenses, a lower provision for credit losses and lower acquisition expenses, partially offset by higher core noninterest expenses, a higher effective tax rate, lower net interest income and an increase in diluted shares outstanding. The increase in net income and earnings per share for the YTD period was primarily the result of a lower provision for credit losses, higher noninterest revenues, lower acquisition expenses, higher net interest income and lower litigation accrual expenses, partially offset by higher noninterest expenses, a higher effective tax rate and an increase in diluted shares outstanding. Operating net income, a non-GAAP measure, of $45.3 million and $146.1 million for the third quarter and September YTD, respectively, decreased $0.5 million, or 1.0%, as compared to the third quarter of 2020 and increased $19.4 million, or 15.3%, compared to September YTD 2020. Operating earnings per share, a non-GAAP measure, of $0.83 for the third quarter was down $0.02 compared to the third quarter of 2020, while operating earnings per share of $2.68 for the first nine months of 2021 was up $0.30 compared to the first nine months of 2020. The decreases in operating net income and earnings per share for the quarter are primarily due to an increase in operating expenses, partially offset by higher noninterest revenues and a lower provision for credit losses recorded in the current quarter. The increases in operating net income and earnings per share for the YTD period are primarily due to the lower provision for credit losses and higher noninterest revenues recorded in the current YTD period. See Table 11 for Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Measures.
As reflected in Table 1, third quarter net interest income of $92.6 million was down $0.4 million, or 0.4%, from the comparable prior year period. Net interest income for the first nine months of 2021 increased $3.7 million, or 1.3%, versus the first nine months of 2020. The quarterly decrease resulted from a decrease in yield on interest-earning assets and an increase in interest-bearing liabilities that was only partially offset by an increase in interest-earning asset balances and a decrease in the average rate paid on interest-bearing liabilities. The YTD year-over-year improvement resulted from an increase in interest-earning asset balances and a decrease in the average rate paid on interest-bearing liabilities, partially offset by a decrease in the yield on interest-earning assets and an increase in interest-bearing liability balances.
The provision for credit losses for the third quarter and September YTD decreased $2.9 million and $28.3 million as compared to the third quarter and first nine months of 2020, respectively. These decreases are reflective of an improving economic outlook given the state of the post-vaccine economic recovery, elevated real estate and vehicle collateral values, a decrease in individually assessed reserves and solid asset quality metrics, including low levels of net charge-offs and stable delinquent loan balances. Additionally, there was $3.2 million of provision for credit losses recorded in the second quarter of 2020 related to acquired non-purchased credit deteriorated loans associated with the Steuben acquisition.
Third quarter and year-to-date noninterest revenues were $64.3 million and $182.3 million, respectively, up $4.6 million, or 7.8%, from the third quarter of 2020 and up $11.1 million, or 6.5%, from the first nine months of 2020. The increase compared to the prior year’s third quarter was primarily a result of increases in employee benefit services revenue, wealth management services revenue, deposit service charges and fees, insurance services revenue, debit interchange and ATM fees, other banking revenue and unrealized gains and losses on equity securities, partially offset by a decrease in mortgage banking revenue. The YTD increase was due to increases in employee benefit services revenue, wealth management services revenue, debit interchange and ATM fees, insurance services revenue, other banking revenue and unrealized gains and losses on equity securities, partially offset by decreases in mortgage banking revenue and deposit service charges and fees.
Noninterest expenses of $100.4 million and $287.2 million for the third quarter and September YTD periods, respectively, reflected an increase of $3.5 million, or 3.6%, from the third quarter of 2020 and an increase of $5.7 million, or 2.0%, from the first nine months of 2020. The increase in noninterest expenses for the quarter was due to increases in salaries and benefits, legal and professional fees, data processing and communications expenses, other expenses and amortization of intangible assets, partially offset by decreases in litigation accrual expenses, business development and marketing expenses, acquisition-related expenses and occupancy and equipment expenses. The YTD increase in noninterest expenses was due to increases in salaries and benefits, data processing and communications expenses, occupancy and equipment expenses and legal and professional fees, partially offset by decreases in acquisition-related expenses, litigation accrual expenses, amortization of intangible assets, other expenses and business development and marketing expenses. Excluding acquisition-related expenses and litigation accrual expenses, 2021 operating expenses were $7.2 million, or 7.7%, higher for the third quarter and $13.1 million, or 4.8%, higher for the year-to-date timeframe.