WINONA, Minn. – The banking company Merchants Financial Group netted $9.6 million income in the quarter ending in March – roughly double projections and nearly $5.8 million ahead of 2020 performance. In making the announcement, president Greg Evans noted that 2020’s first quarter had been affected negatively by the Covid pandemic. A large driver of Merchants performance in the most recent quarter continued to be residential mortgages, $233 million in the first quarter, Evans said. Also, he said, the bank chose to be an originator of federal Paycheck Protection Program loans to small businesses.
