He attributed net interest income growth to a lower cost of funds, with total cost of funds declining 16 basis points to 2.18%. Villalon also noted 52 basis points in the quarter related to purchase accounting accretion and non-recurring items. Excluding those items, he said core NIM was 3.17%, up 12 basis points from the third quarter. He said the company remained disciplined in pricing, citing new loan spreads of 258 basis points over Fed funds and deposit costs 116 basis points below Fed funds, for what he called a “new business margin” of 374 basis points. About Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS)Alerus Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ALRS) is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Grand Forks, North Dakota.