Ohio Valley Banc Corp. Reports 1st Quarter Earnings.

GALLIPOLIS, Ohio: Ohio Valley Banc Corp. [Nasdaq: OVBC] (the "Company") reported consolidated net income for the quarter ended March 31, 2023, of $3,908,000, a decrease of $217,000, or 5.3%, from the same period the prior year. Earnings per share for the first quarter of 2023 were $.82, compared to $.87 for the first quarter of 2022. Return on average assets and return on average equity were 1.28% and 11.85%, respectively, for the first quarter of 2023, versus 1.34% and 11.78%, respectively, for the same period the prior year.

Ohio Valley Banc Corp. President and CEO, Larry Miller stated, "Managing through and overcoming challenges has been something our company has been successfully doing for over 150 years now. The recent failure of two high profile banks, one on each coast, is a good reminder that we need to stay humble and remember the basic principles of banking in terms of diversification as well as maintaining a proper, balanced approach. Given the challenging environment in which we operate, I am particularly pleased with our first quarter results."

For the first quarter of 2023, net interest income increased $1,732,000 from the first quarter of 2022. Contributing to the increase in net interest income was the increase in the net interest margin. In relation to the significant increase in market interest rates based on actions taken by the Federal Reserve, the net interest margin has responded positively due to the yield on earning assets increasing more than the cost of interest-bearing liabilities. For the quarter ended March 31, 2023, the net interest margin was 4.21%, compared to 3.51% for the same period the prior year. The net interest margin also benefited from the higher relative balances maintained in loans, as opposed to the Federal Reserve, which generally yields less than loans. The average balance of loans for the first quarter of 2023 was $897 million, an increase of $79 million from the first quarter of 2022. For the same period, the average balances maintained at the Federal Reserve decreased $92 million.

For the three months ended March 31, 2023, the provision for credit loss expense was $489,000, an increase of $1,615,000 from the first quarter of 2022. The provision for credit loss expense for the first quarter of 2023 was primarily related to quarterly net charge-offs of $290,000 and to the general reserves associated with the $21 million increase in total loans since December 31, 2022. The increase in provision...