Merchants Financial reports strong year

Merchants Financial Group, Inc., ended 2013 with its second-best year ever in terms of net income at $11,612,049, the bank announced in a press release..While net income for 2013 was slightly lower than in 2012, other key numbers increased from a year ago. The asset size of Merchants increased to $1.366 billion in 2013 from $1.286 billion in 2012. Loan balances increased 12.2 percent to $972.26 million from $867.15 million the previous year, and equity increased to $116.0 million from $112.2 million. Deposits at the bank also increased to $1.13 billion, up from $1.07 billion in 2012..Merchants attributed its record-high net income of $12,439,492 in 2012 to "extraordinary mortgage volume."."We were pleased with our results. We finished well ahead of our plan for the year, and we continue to be well positioned for continued growth," said Rodney R. Nelson, president and CEO..Merchants acquired locations in Rushford and Lanesboro, Minn., in November, and a location in Eau Claire, Wis, in February, 2013. Merchants also made changes in leadership as Nelson succeeded Richard L. Mahoney as president and CEO on January 1. Greg Evans also was recently named president and chief banking officer and will oversee operations at Merchants' 21 bank locations. Both Nelson and Evans are long-time leaders in the Merchants organization..In addition to Eau Claire, Merchants has another Wisconsin location in Onalaska and 19 Minnesota locations throughout the east and southeast parts of the state including the Rushford and Lanesboro offices.