during the COVID pandemic when interest rates were low, repricing upward in 2026. Overall, through nine months of 2026, the average balance of total interest earning assets increased from last year’s average by $7.3 million, or 0.5%, while total interest income increased by $676,000, or 1.3%, from the first nine months of 2025 due to the increased revenue contribution from the investment securities portfolio.
On the liability side of the balance sheet, total deposits averaged $1.24 billion for the third quarter of 2026 which was modestly higher than the third quarter of 2025 average due to the Company’s successful business development efforts. Additionally, the Company’s core deposit base continues to demonstrate the strength and stability that it has for many years due to customer loyalty and confidence in AmeriServ Financial Bank. The Company does not utilize brokered deposits as a funding source. The loan to deposit ratio averaged 81.0% in the third quarter of 2026, which indicates that the Company has ample capacity to continue to grow its loan portfolio and is well positioned to support our customers and our community during times of economic volatility.
Total interest expense decreased by $652,000, or 8.7%, for the third quarter of 2026 and decreased by $1.6 million, or 7.3%, for the nine months when compared to both time periods of 2025. Deposit interest expense declined by $1.1 million, or 5.8%, through the first nine months of 2026 despite total average interest-bearing deposits growing by $29.0 million, or 2.7%, compared to the first nine months of last year. The decrease in deposit interest expense reflects management’s effective deposit pricing strategies along with the benefit of the Federal Reserve easing monetary policy during the final four months of 2025. This reduction in interest-bearing deposit costs contributed to the previously mentioned improvement in the net interest margin. Overall, total deposit cost (including the benefit of non-interest-bearing demand deposits) averaged 1.92% for both the third quarter and first nine months of 2026, which is an 18-basis point improvement from the third quarter of 2025.
Total borrowings interest expense decreased by $93,000, or 10.0%, for the third quarter of 2026 and declined by $493,000, or 17.7%, for the first nine months when compared to both time periods of 2025. Due to the higher level of total average deposits, management elected not to replace maturing Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) advances during the first nine months of 2026. Therefore, the total average balance of FHLB borrowings for the first nine months of 2026 decreased by $15.9 million, or 27.7%, from the same period of last year. The cost of the company’s subordinated debt increased as of September 1, 2026, from its previous five-year fixed rate of 3.75% to a floating rate of 6.94% (311-basis points over three-month term SOFR) which increased interest expense by $72,000 in the third quarter of 2026.
The Company recorded a $3,000 provision for credit losses recovery in the third quarter of 2026 after recording a $360,000 provision for credit losses in the third quarter of 2025, resulting in a favorable shift of $363,000. For the first nine months of 2026, the Company recognized an $80,000 provision for credit losses recovery after recognizing a $3.4 million provision for credit losses in the first nine months of 2025, resulting in a net favorable change of $3.5 million. The provision recovery in both the third quarter and first nine months of 2026 reflected a continuing favorable trend for historical loan loss rates along with a softening of reserve requirements due to the contraction in the size of the loan portfolio. The large provision for credit losses in the first nine months of 2025 was needed to resolve the Company’s largest non-performing loan which also included a related $2.8 million loan charge-off in the second quarter of last year.
Non-performing assets totaled $8.2 million at September 30, 2026, which represented a decrease of $326,000, or 3.8%, since year-end 2025. Non-performing loans represented 0.77% of total loans on September 30, 2026. The Company recognized net loan charge-offs of $228,000, or 0.03% of total average loans, in the first nine months of 2026 compared to net loan charge-offs of $2.9 million, or 0.37% of total average loans, in the first nine months of 2025. Overall, the Company’s allowance for loan credit losses provided 169% coverage of non-performing loans and represented 1.29% of total loans at September 30, 2026.
Total non-interest income in the third quarter of 2026 increased by $117,000, or 2.7%, from the prior year's third quarter and increased by $434,000, or 3.4%, in the first nine months of 2026 when compared to the first nine months of 2025. The increase in both time periods was due primarily to higher levels of wealth management fees in 2026 which increased by $595,000 in the third quarter and $903,000, or 10.6%, for the nine-month period. The third quarter increase included the receipt of a $402,000 transition payment for moving our broker dealer to Ameriprise Financial Services. The remainder of the increase for both periods was due to market appreciation of customer assets as the equity markets moved to record levels throughout 2026. Overall, the fair market value of wealth management assets totaled $2.8 billion at September 30, 2026, and increased by $121.9 million, or 4.5%, since December 31, 2025. Other income also increased by $366,000 for the third quarter and $328,000 for the nine months of 2026 due largely to positive adjustments to the fair market value of interest rate swaps related to a risk participation agreement for a commercial banking customer. These favorable items were partially offset by a decrease in BOLI revenue of $291,000 for the third quarter and $199,000 for the nine months due to fewer death claims in 2026. The Company also recognized a loss on trading securities of $438,000 for the third quarter and $441,000 for the nine months of 2026 as rising interest rates negatively impacted the performance of this asset.
Total non-interest expense in the third quarter of 2026 increased by $176,000, or 1.5%, when compared to the third quarter of 2025 and increased by $1.9 million, or 5.2%, during the first nine months of 2026 when compared to the same period in 2025. Professional fees increased by $664,000 for the third quarter and by $1.7 million, or 76.0%, for the nine months due to additional expenses related to expanded consulting services provided to the Company by SB Value Partners in accordance with the amended and restated consulting agreement. The costs related to the migration and upgrade of the bank’s core processing system caused data processing and IT expense