WILLISTON, Vt. — Yankee Farm Credit today announced first quarter financial results for 2017. Yankee is a farmer-owned credit cooperative serving Vermont and parts of New York and New Hampshire. Quarterly earnings were down slightly from the prior year, but loan quality remained stable. The patronage refund for 2016 of $5.1 million was distributed to members during the quarter. Yankee’s overall level of capital remains strong.
Q1 Financial Results
Quarterly net income for Yankee was $2.4 million, a decrease of $200 thousand from 2016. Factors driving the decrease were Yankee’s cost of conversion to a new information technology platform and the additional costs of enhanced risk management practices. Offsetting these increased costs was an increase of $148 thousand in other expenses from the same period in the prior year.
Loans held by the Association at March 31, 2017 were $473.1 million, down slightly from year end. The loan portfolio continues to be concentrated in the dairy industry, with 51.4 percent of the loans invested in dairy businesses. The second largest concentration is timber, with 13.8 percent of the loan volume at quarter end.
Credit quality across Yankee’s loan portfolio remained stable during the quarter and well within the risk-bearing capacity of the Association. At quarter end 1.2 percent of the Association loans were classified as nonperforming, unchanged from the end of 2016. There were no loan charge-offs or recoveries in the quarter. The Association’s permanent capital ratio at quarter end was 18.3 percent, down from 18.9 percent at the end of 2016.
The 2016 patronage refund to members in the amount of $5.1 million was paid 100% in cash on March 22, 2017.
About Yankee
Yankee Farm Credit is a member-owned cooperative which provides loans and financial services to farmers and other rural customers. Yankee is an agricultural credit association (ACA) within the national Farm Credit System. Yankee serves all of Vermont, four counties in New Hampshire (Cheshire, Coos, Grafton and Sullivan) and two counties in New York (Clinton and Essex).
For more information about Yankee visit the Association’s website at www.yankeeaca.com. The complete quarterly report is available on the website.
—Yankee Farm Credit
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