First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. Announces Third Quarter 2021 Results

HAMMOND, Louisiana, Nov. 09, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. ("First Guaranty") (NASDAQ: FGBI), the holding company for First Guaranty Bank, announced its unaudited financial results for the quarter ending September 30, 2021.

The third quarter of 2021 gives evidence of the strength, the resilience, and the progress of First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. over the past few years. The third quarter of 2021 brought record earnings and shareholder value in spite of Hurricane Ida and in spite of the continued obstacles of Covid-19. Continued strong loan demand resulted in loan interest income of $26,685,000 for the quarter compared to $22,519,000 for the same quarter of 2020, an increase of approximately 20%. At the same time, our interest expense reduction efforts resulted in a decrease in total interest expense of approximately 10%. The combination resulted in net interest income, after provision for loan losses, for the quarter of $23,528,000 compared to $17,494,000 for the same quarter of 2020; an increase of approximately 35%. At the same time, due to our emphasis on expense control, non-interest expense increased only 8.5%. The net income available to common shareholders improved from, for the quarter, $5,182,000 to $7,209,000, an increase in net income available to common shareholders of approximately 40%.

Strong progress.

Our loan pipeline indicates that we will continue to make strong progress. Because of forgiveness of PPP, our loan portfolio for the quarter did not increase significantly; however, the fact that we replaced PPP loans with core loans, because of the difference in yield, we will increase income by approximately $1,000,000 without any significant difference in our balance sheet. This is the type of management and progress we expect to continue.

And, in case you didn’t know this, we have been selected by Newsweek and Lending Tree, for the second year in a row as the Best Small Bank in the United States. Our championship last year was not a one-time flash. We have shown that we have the quality and consistency to repeat.

We will continue to build a strong, fortress balance sheet. We will continue to enhance shareholder value.

Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Alton B. Lewis
President and CEO
First Guaranty, Bancshares, Inc.

About First Guaranty

First Guaranty, a Louisiana-based company, has approximately $2.8 billion in assets as of September 30, 2021 and provides personalized commercial banking services through 34 banking facilities located across Louisiana and Texas. For more information, visit www.fgb.net.

Certain statements contained herein are "forward looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward looking statements may be identified by reference to a future period or periods, or by the use of forward looking terminology, such as "may," "will," "believe," "expect," "estimate," "anticipate," "continue," or similar terms or variations on those terms, or the negative of those terms. Forward looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, as described in our SEC filings, including, but not limited to, those related to the real estate and economic environment, particularly in the market areas in which First Guaranty operates, competitive products and pricing, fiscal and monetary policies of the U.S. Government, changes in government regulations affecting financial institutions, including regulatory fees and capital requirements, changes in prevailing interest rates, acquisitions and the integration of acquired businesses, credit risk management, asset-liability management, the financial and securities markets and the availability of and costs associated with sources of liquidity.

First Guaranty wishes to caution readers not to place undue reliance on any such forward looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. First Guaranty wishes to advise readers that the factors listed above could affect First Guaranty's financial performance and could cause First Guaranty's actual results for future periods to differ materially from any opinions or statements expressed with respect to future periods in any current statements. First Guaranty does not undertake and specifically declines any obligation to publicly release the results of any revisions, which may be made to any forward looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events.

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CONTACT: ERIC J. DOSCH, CFO 985.375.0308