Farmers bank reports lower earnings

CANFIELD — Farmers National Banc Corp. posted lower fourth-quarter earnings because of an investment that’s isn’t performing as expected.

The Canfield-based holding company for Farmers National Bank said today that it earned $1 million, or seven cents a share, in the fourth quarter, compared with $1.6 million, or 12 cents a share, in the same quarter of 2006.

Farmers said that last quarter’s results included an accounting charge that reduced earnings by $576,000. The charge was related to investments the company has in Fannie Mae, which operates in the secondary mortgage market.

In November, Fannie Mae offered preferred stock that carried higher dividends than previous offerings. Farmers said this caused the value of its Fannie Mae stock to fall, so management decided to take the $576,000 charge to reflect the lower value.

For more on this story, see Wednesday’s Vindicator or www.vindy.com.