First Merchants Corporation reported unaudited consolidated financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended Dec. 31, 2016. The company reported fourth quarter 2016 net income available to common stockholders of $22.3 million, compared to $14.2 million during the fourth quarter of 2015. Earnings per diluted share for the period totaled a record $0.55 per share, an increase of $0.18 per share, or 48.6%, over $0.37 for the same period in 2015. Total interest income was $65,005,000 against $56,514,000 for the same period of last year. Net-interest income was $58,374,000 against $50,074,000 for the same period of last year. Income before income tax was $30,143,000 against $18,595,000 for the same period of last year.

Year-to-date net income available to common stockholders totaled $81.1 million, compared to $65.4 million during the same period in 2015. Earnings per diluted share for the full year of 2016 totaled a record $1.98 per share, an increase of $0.26 per share, or 15.1% over $1.72 for the same period in 2015. 2016 results included record performance throughout nearly every category of the balance sheet and income statement which resulted in successful achievement of year's high performance targets. Net-interest income totaled $226.5 million for the full year of 2016, an increase of $30.1 million over the $196.4 million total from 2015. The increase can be attributed to several factors including the closing of the Ameriana Bancorp acquisition on December 31, 2015, organic earning asset growth and the expansion of the net-interest margin of 9 basis points. Total interest income was $253,312,000 against $221,198,000 for the same period of last year. Income before income tax was $108,660,000 against $91,049,000 for the same period of last year.

For the quarter, the company announced net charge-offs of $164,000.