INTEREST INCOME AND EARNING ASSETS
Interest income totaled $85,636,000 in 2021, an increase of 9.6% from 2020. Interest and fees on loans receivable increased $7,175,000, or 10.3%, to $76,781,000 in 2021 from $69,606,000 in 2020. Interest and fees on PPP loans totaled $6,530,000 in 2021, an increase of $3,606,000 over the total in 2020. Table III shows the increase in interest on loans including $8,016,000 attributable to an increase in volume and a decrease of $841,000 related to a decrease in average yield.
The average balance of loans receivable increased $151,658,000 (10.5%) to $1,596,756,000 in 2021 from $1,445,098,000 in 2020. The increase in average loans outstanding includes the effect of loans acquired from Covenant, effective July 1, 2020.
The fully taxable equivalent yield on loans in 2021 was 4.81% compared to 4.82% in 2020. In 2021, rates on variable rate loans and rates on most new loan originations decreased, and prepayments of loans increased, consistent with falling market interest rates throughout most of 2020 and 2021. Further, yields on loans acquired from Covenant on July 1, 2020 were recorded at then-current market yields, which were lower than the Corporation’s average portfolio yield before the acquisition. The overall yield on loans in 2021 included a benefit from the acceleration of fees recognized on PPP loans as repayments have been received from the SBA. As shown in Table II, in 2021, the average balance of 1st Draw PPP loans was $44,735,000 with an average yield of 7.77% and the average balance of 2nd Draw PPP loans was $52,917,000 with an average yield of 5.77%.
Interest income on available-for-sale debt securities totaled $8,471,000 in 2021, an increase of $268,000 from the total for 2020. As indicated in Table II, average available-for-sale debt securities (at amortized cost) totaled $390,163,000 in 2021, an increase of $61,718,000 (18.8%) from 2020. The average yield on available-for-sale debt securities decreased to 2.17% in 2021 from 2.50% in 2020, reflecting acceleration of calls and prepayments of amortizing securities and purchases of lower-yielding securities at recent, lower market rates.
Interest income from interest-bearing deposits in banks totaled $318,000 in 2021, an increase of $67,000 from the total for 2020. The most significant categories of assets within this category include interest-bearing balances held with the Federal Reserve and investments in certificates of deposit issued by other banks. The average balance increased $75,565,000, as increases in deposits and funds from loan repayments outpaced uses of funds for loan originations, purchases of securities and repayments of borrowings. The average balance of interest-bearing due from banks was 7.3% of average earning assets in 2021 as compared to 4.3% in 2020. The average yield on interest-bearing due from banks fell to 0.20% in 2021 from 0.31% in 2020, due to a decrease in market rates.
INTEREST EXPENSE AND INTEREST-BEARING LIABILITIES
Interest expense decreased $3,033,000, or 31.6%, to $6,562,000 in 2021 from $9,595,000 in 2020. Table II shows that the overall cost of funds on interest-bearing liabilities decreased to 0.44% in 2021 from 0.72% in 2020.
Total average deposit balances (interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing) increased $318,991,000 to $1,905,400,000 in 2021 from $1,586,409,000 in 2020. The increase in average deposits includes the impact of the Covenant acquisition. The average rate on interest-bearing deposits decreased to 0.33% in 2021 from 0.60% in 2020. The decrease in average rate on deposits includes a decrease of 0.54% on time deposits. The average balance of time deposits fell to 17.2% of average total deposits in 2021 from 25.1% in 2020, further contributing to the reduction in average rate on deposits.
Interest expense on short-term borrowings decreased $344,000 to $23,000 in 2021 from $367,000 in 2020. The average balance of short-term borrowings decreased to $6,269,000 in 2021 from $34,212,000 in 2020. The average rate on short-term borrowings decreased to 0.37% in 2021 from 1.07% in 2020.
Interest expense on long-term borrowings (FHLB advances) decreased $892,000 to $399,000 in 2021 from $1,291,000 in 2020. The average balance of long-term borrowings was $44,026,000 in 2021, down from an average balance of $83,500,000 in 2020. The average rate on long-term borrowings was 0.91% in 2021 compared to 1.55% in 2020. The reduction in both average balance and rate reflects the prepayment of borrowings of $48,036,000 in December 2020.
Interest expense on senior notes issued in May 2021 totaled $293,000 in 2021. The average balance of the senior notes was $9,129,000 in 2021 with an average rate of 3.21%.