Comparison of the Results of Operations for the Three Months Ended March 31, 2017 and 2016
General. Net income increased $154,000, or 19.2%, to $956,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2017 from $802,000 for the same period in 2016. This increase was the result of increases in net interest income and noninterest income of $639,000 and $76,000, respectively, and decreases in in the provision for loans losses and the provision for income taxes of $19,000 and $23,000, respectively, partially offset by a $603,000 increase in noninterest expense.
Net interest income. Tax equivalent net interest income increased $618,000, or 13.2%, to $5.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2017 from $4.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016. This increase was attributed to an increase in tax equivalent interest income of $803,000, partially offset by an increase in interest expense of $185,000.
Interest income. Tax equivalent interest income increased $803,000, or 14.6%, to $6.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2017 from $5.5 million for the same period in 2016. This increase was attributed to increases in interest earned on loans and dividends on federal bank stocks of $849,000 and $19,000, respectively, partially offset by decreases in interest earned on securities and interest-earnings deposits with bank of $61,000 and $4,000, respectively.
Tax equivalent interest earned on loans receivable increased $849,000, or 17.7%, to $5.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2017 compared to $4.8 million for the same period in 2016. This increase resulted from a $97.8 million, or 22.4% increase in average loans, accounting for an increase of $1.0 million in interest income. The increase in loans receivable was partially related to the acquisition of United American in April 2016. Partially offsetting this favorable volume variance, the average yield on loans decreased 14 basis points to 4.28% for the three months ended March 31, 2017, versus 4.42% for the same period in 2016. This unfavorable yield variance accounted for a $191,000 decrease in interest income.
Tax equivalent interest earned on securities decreased $61,000, or 9.3%, to $592,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2017 compared to $653,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2016. This decrease resulted from an $11.6 million, or 10.4%, decrease in the average balance of securities, accounting for a $68,000 decrease in interest income. Partially offsetting the unfavorable volume variance, the average yield on securities increased 4 basis points to 2.40% for the three months ended March 31, 2017 versus 2.36% for the same period in 2016. This favorable yield variance accounted for a $7,000 increase in interest income.
Interest earned on deposits with banks decreased $4,000 to $16,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2017 compared to $20,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2016. This decrease resulted from a $5.4 million decrease in the average balance of interest-earning deposits, accounting for a decrease of $9,000 in interest income. Partially offsetting the unfavorable volume variance, the average yield on these accounts increased 16 basis points to 0.71% for the three months ended March 31, 2017, versus 0.55% for the same period in 2016, accounting for a $5,000 increase in interest income.
Dividends on federal bank stocks increased $19,000, or 51.4%, to $53,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2017 from $34,000 for the same period in 2016. This increase was primarily due to an increase in the average balance of federal bank stocks of $1.7 million, or 53.4%, to $4.9 million compared to $3.2 million for the same period in 2016, accounting for an $18,000 increase in interest income. Additionally, the average yield on these assets increased 10 basis points to 4.35% for the three months ended March 31, 2017, versus 4.25% for the same period in 2016, accounting for a $1,000 increase in interest income.
Interest expense. Interest expense increased $185,000, or 22.2%, to $1.0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2017 from $832,000 for the same period in 2016. This increase in interest expense can be attributed to increases in interest incurred on deposits and borrowed funds of $115,000 and $70,000, respectively.
Interest expense incurred on deposits increased $115,000, or 19.6%, to $703,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2017 compared to $588,000 for the same period in 2016. The average balance of interest-bearing deposits increased $75.9 million, or 19.5%, to $465.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2017, compared to $389.5 million for the same period in 2016 causing a $115,000 increase in interest expense. This increase was primarily due to the acquisition of United American in April 2016. The average cost of interest-bearing deposits was 0.61% for the three month periods ended March 31, 2017 and 2016.