Comparison of Operating Results for the Three Months Ended March 31, 2023 and 2022
Net Income. Net income for the three months ended March 31, 2023 decreased $1.3 million, or 61.1%, to $798,000, or $0.07 per diluted share, compared to net income of $2.1 million, or $0.19 per diluted share, for the three months ended March 31, 2022. Interest and dividend income increased $3.6 million, or 33.1%, interest expense increased $3.9 million, or 450.9%, the provision for credit losses increased $793,000, non-interest income decreased $335,000, or 19.6%, non-interest expense increased $98,000, or 1.1%, and taxes decreased $221,000, or 49.6%, between comparable quarters.
Net Interest Income. Net interest income decreased $250,000, or 2.5%, to $9.9 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023, compared to $10.1 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2022. The ratio of average interest-earning assets to average interest-bearing liabilities decreased 6.2% to 136.11% while our net interest margin decreased by 21 basis points to 3.21% when comparing the first quarter of 2023 to the same period in 2022.
Interest Income. Interest income increased $3.6 million, or 33.1%, to $14.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023 from $11.0 million for the comparable 2022 period. Both interest and fees on loans and interest and dividends on securities increased as the yields increased due to the rising interest rate environment. For the three months ended March 31, 2023, the average balance of loans increased $143.1 million, while the average balance of available for sale securities decreased $63.6 million when compared to the three months ended March 31, 2022. The average yield on loans increased 66 basis points, while the average yield on available for sale securities increased 60 basis points. The overall average yield of interest-earning assets increased by 104 basis points to 4.75% and the overall average balance of interest-earning assets increased $47.8 million, or 4.0%.
Interest Expense. Interest expense increased $3.9 million, or 450.9%, from $860,000 for the quarter ended March 31, 2022, to $4.7 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2023. The average cost of interest-bearing liabilities increased 168 basis points to 2.10% for the quarter ended March 31, 2023, due to the current interest rate environment, while the average balance of total interest-bearing liabilities increased $90.2 million, or 10.9%, to $916.3 million. Between the three months ended March 31, 2022 and 2023, the average cost of Federal Home Loan Bank advances increased by 253 basis points, while the average balance increased by $43.4 million. An increase of $93.3 million, or 62.1%, in the average balance of our certificates of deposit was partially offset by a decrease of $47.0 million, or 7.3%, in the average balance of our core deposits (consisting of savings, NOW and money market accounts) as depositors sought higher yields in the increasing interest rate environment.
Provision for Credit Losses. We recorded a provision for credit losses of $1.0 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2023, which represented a $793,000 increase from $221,000 for the prior year comparable quarter. The increase to the provision for the three months ended March 31, 2023 was attributable to an increase in loan balances, higher charge-offs, developing signs of declining economic conditions, the impact of adopting the new CECL methodology, and one specific loss reserve totaling $710,000 taken on a $975,000 commercial loan.
Net charge-offs increased $333,000 from net charge-offs of $80,000 for the first quarter of 2022 to net charge-offs of $413,000 for the first quarter of 2023. The increases were primarily due to a $143,000 recovery of one residential loan in the first quarter of 2022 and increased net charge-offs of $227,000 in our indirect automobile portfolio in the first three months of 2023. The percentage of overdue account balances to total loans decreased to 1.54% as of March 31, 2023 from 2.29% as of December 31, 2022, while our non-performing assets increased $1.1 million to $5.6 million at March 31, 2023.