YOUNGSTOWN — Farmers National Banc Corp., the Canfield-based holding company of Farmers National Bank, reported net income of $15.4 million in the third quarter, down from $16 million in the previous quarter.

The banking company cited $872,000 in merger-related costs and net losses of $6,000 on the sale of securities and other assets for the decrease in its latest quarterly results.

Farmers reported assets of $4.12 billion on Sept. 30, the end of the three-month period, compared to $4.11 billion at the end of the second quarter and $4.14 billion at the end of 2021. Gross loans, excluding loans held for sale and Paycheck Protection Program loans, grew to $2.4 billion in the quarter from $2.37 billion when the second quarter ended June 30.

The $27.3 million growth was equal to 4.6 percent annualized.

“The quarter again exhibited strength across multiple sectors of the loan portfolio with loan pipelines still showing sold volume,” the company’s quarterly report states.

Deposits fell from $3.63 billion at the end of June to $3.57 billion at the end of the third quarter, primarily due to competition in the second half of the quarter as interest rates rose.

Farmers “expects competition for deposits to remain elevated, which will increase funding costs moving forward,” the report states.

The company, meanwhile, is awaiting regulatory approval for its $105 million cash and stock acquisition of Pennsylvania-based Emclaire Financial Corp., the parent company of The Farmers National Bank of Emlenton.

When complete, the merger of Emclaire into Farmers will be the largest undertaken by the company when measured by banking assets.

Emclaire, which operates 19 branches in 10 counties in western Pennsylvania, had $1 billion in assets, gross loans of $810.1 million, deposits of $926.7 million and $71 million in equity at the end of the third quarter.

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