Securities available for sale increased to $1.36 billion at March 31, 2023 from $1.27 billion at December 31, 2022. This increase was due to the addition of $127.0 million in available for sale securities from Emlenton and a reduction in the gross amount of unrealized losses which totaled $266.5 million at December 31, 2022 compared to a gross unrealized loss of $223.7 million at March 31, 2023. Offsetting these increases, the Company also had sales and runoff from the portfolio that totaled approximately $82.4 million in the first three months of 2023. The Company will continue to look to opportunistically shrink the size of the securities portfolio to increase liquidity and optimize profitability. The volatility in the bond market, however, is expected to continue in 2023, which may result in increased volatility in the fair value of the Company’s available for sale securities.
During the first quarter of 2023, total customer deposits (excluding brokered time deposits) increased to $4.31 billion from $3.42 billion at December 31, 2022. The increase was driven by the $875.8 million in deposits assumed in the acquisition of Emlenton along with $14.5 million in organic growth during the quarter. The Company continues to experience heightened competition from other banks, money market funds and the treasury market itself. In addition, it appears that some customers are utilizing deposit balances to counter the higher cost of living or running a business brought on by the higher inflationary environment. The Company expects competition for deposits to remain highly elevated for the foreseeable future which will continue to place pressure on funding costs.
Total stockholders’ equity increased from $292.3 million at December 31, 2022 to $374.6 million at March 31, 2023. The increase was primarily driven by the acquisition of Emlenton along with a decrease in the loss from accumulated other comprehensive income offset by increased treasury stock activity. The Company repurchased 850,799 shares of its common stock during the quarter. The accumulated other comprehensive loss declined $33.8 million between December 31, 2022 and March 31, 2023 as rates on U.S. treasury securities declined during the first quarter of 2023 and pricing on available for sale securities improved. The Company’s tangible book value per share (non-GAAP) was $4.84 at March 31, 2023 compared to $5.60 at December 31, 2022.
Liquidity
With the turmoil that the banking industry experienced in the first quarter of 2023, the Company has continued to monitor its deposit base and balance sheet composition as well as its access to other sources of liquidity. The Company continues to run a modest loan to customer deposit ratio of approximately 73.1% and the Company’s average deposit balance per account is only $28,918. In addition, the Company’s ratio of uninsured deposits is approximately 19.2% which is low compared to the banking institutions that experienced difficulty in the first quarter.
The Company also has access to an additional $656.1 million of FHLB borrowing capacity at March 31, 2023 along with $539.9 million of available for sale securities that are not pledged. With a deep and diverse deposit base and access to a large amount of additional funding capacity, the Company is well positioned to handle any future liquidity stress.
Credit Quality
During the first quarter of 2023, the Company recorded a provision for credit losses and unfunded commitments of $8.6 million. Of this figure, $7.7 million was due to the Emlenton acquisition. In connection with the acquisition, the Company recorded a provision for credit losses related to non-purchased credit deteriorated loans of $7.5 million along with a provision for unfunded commitments of $235,000. The Company also experienced net charge-offs of $271,000 during the first quarter of 2023. Net charge-offs as a percentage of average loans was 3 basis points for the quarter ended March 31, 2023.
The allowance for credit losses to total loans increased to 1.14% at March 31, 2023 compared to 1.12% at December 31, 2022. The Company recorded $1.0 million in the allowance for credit losses for Emlenton’s purchase credit deteriorated loans.
Non-performing loans (NPLs) were $18.0 million at March 31, 2023 compared to $14.8 million at December 31, 2022. This increase was primarily due to the addition of Emlenton. The NPL to loans ratio was 0.57% at March 31, 2023 compared to 0.62% at December 31, 2022. Non-performing assets to assets was 0.35% at March 31, 2023, down slightly from 0.36% at December 31, 2022. Early stage delinquencies, defined as 30-89 days delinquent, were $10.2 million, or 0.32% at March 31, 2023, compared to $9.6 million, or 0.40% of total loans, at December 31, 2022.
Net Interest Income
Net interest income totaled $36.6 million in the first quarter of 2023 compared to $31.2 million for the first quarter of 2022. A larger earning asset base due to the acquisition of Emlenton was the primary driver of this increase offset by a 20 basis point decline in the net interest margin. The net interest margin was 3.07% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to 2.99% in the fourth quarter of 2022 and 3.27% for the first quarter of 2022. The increase in net interest margin during the first quarter of 2023 compared to the prior quarter was due to the acquisition of Emlenton. The decline in net interest margin between the first quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2022 was due to increases in funding costs outstripping the increase in yields on earning assets. This increase in funding costs has been due to the rapid increase in deposit rates due to intense competition for deposits, the continued Federal Reserve rate hiking cycle and runoff of deposit balances which are being replaced by much costlier wholesale funding. Excluding the impact of acquisition marks and related accretion and PPP interest and fees, the net interest margin (non-GAAP) for the first quarter of 2023 was 2.86% compared to 2.97% for the fourth quarter of 2022 and 3.12% for the first quarter of 2022.