FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS WITH OFF-BALANCE SHEET RISK

6 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2024

Financial Instruments with Off-Balance Sheet Risk [Abstract]

FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS WITH OFF-BALANCE SHEET RISK

NOTE L - FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS WITH OFF-BALANCE SHEET RISK

The Company may use derivative financial instruments, such as interest rate swaps and interest rate floors and caps, as part of its interest rate risk management. Interest rate caps and floors are agreements whereby one party agrees to pay or receive a floating rate of interest on a notional principal amount for a predetermined period of time if certain market interest rate thresholds are met. The Company considers the credit risk inherent in these contracts to be negligible. As of March 31, 2024, the Company did not hold any interest rate floors or collars.

The Company is a party to interest rate derivatives that are not designated as hedging instruments. Under a program, the Company executes interest rate swaps with commercial lending customers to facilitate their respective risk management strategies. These interest rate swaps with customers are simultaneously offset by interest rate swaps that the Company executes with a third-party financial institution, such that the Company minimizes its net risk exposure resulting from such transactions. Because the interest rate swaps associated with this program do not meet the strict hedge accounting requirements, changes in the fair value of both the customer swaps and the offsetting swaps are recognized directly in earnings. The changes in the fair value of the swaps offset each other, except for the credit risk of the counterparties, which is determined by taking into consideration the risk rating, probability of default and loss given default for all counterparties. The Company was not required to pledge any collateral for its interest rate swaps with financial institutions at March 31, 2024 and September 30, 2023.

The following table presents summary information regarding these derivatives as of March 31, 2024 and September 30, 2023.

	Notional Amount		Average Maturiy (Years)		Weighted Average Fixed Rate			Weighted Average Variable Rate	Fair Value
	(Dollars in thousands)
March 31, 2024
Classified in Other Assets:
Customer interest rate swaps	$	35,462		3.7		4.96	%	1 Mo. BSBY + 2.44	$	2,011
Total	$	35,462		3.7		4.96	%		$	2,011
Classified in Other Liabilities:
3rd Party interest rate swaps	$	35,462		3.7		4.96	%	1 Mo. BSBY + 2.44	$	2,011
Total	$	35,462		3.7		4.96	%		$	2,011
September 30, 2023
Classified in Other Assets:
Customer interest rate swaps	$	36,020		4.2		4.96	%	1 Mo. BSBY + 2.44	$	2,579
Total	$	36,020		4.2		4.96	%		$	2,579
Classified in Other Liabilities:
3rd Party interest rate swaps	$	36,020		4.2		4.96	%	1 Mo. BSBY + 2.44	$	2,579
Total	$	36,020		4.2		4.96	%		$	2,579

The Company is a party to financial instruments with off-balance-sheet risk in the normal course of business to meet the financing needs of its customers. These financial instruments are commitments to extend credit and are summarized in the below table. Those instruments involve, to varying degrees, elements of credit and interest rate risk in excess of the amounts recognized in the consolidated balance sheets.

	March 31,		September 30,
	2024		2023
	(In thousands)
Financial instruments whose contract amounts
represent credit risk
Letters of credit	$	860	$	1,073
Unused lines of credit		93,370		89,933
Fixed rate loan commitments		2,198		3,578
Variable rate loan commitments		32,757		26,472
Totals	$	129,185	$	121,056

Upon adoption of ASU 2016-13 on October 1, 2023, the Company recorded an allowance for credit losses for its unused lines of credit and unfunded commitments totaling $540 thousand. The Company’s reserves for off-balance sheet credit losses increased to $705 thousand at March 31, 2024 from $0 at September 30, 2023.