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Exhibit 99.1 FIRST first financial bancorp First Financial Bancorp Announces Second Quarter 2021 Financial Results Earnings per diluted share of $ 0.52 ; $ 0.58 on an adjusted ( 1 ) basis Return on average assets of 1.26 % ; 1.39 % as adjusted ( 1 ) Net interest margin FTE ( 1 ) of 3.31 % Provision recapture of $ 4.2 million Repurchased 1,308,945 shares during the quarter Cincinnati , Ohio - July 22 , 2021 First Financial Bancorp . ( Nasdaq : FFBC ) ( " First Financial " or the " Company " ) announced financial results for the three and six months ended June 30 , 2021 . For the three months ended June 30 , 2021 , the Company reported net income of $ 50.9 million , or $ 0.52 per diluted common share . These results compare to net income of $ 47.3 million , or $ 0.48 per diluted common share , for the first quarter of 2021 and $ 37.4 million , or $ 0.38 per diluted common share , for the second quarter of 2020. For the six months ended June 30 , 2021 , First Financial had earnings per diluted common share of $ 1.01 compared to $ 0.67 for the same period in 2020 . Return on average assets for the second quarter of 2021 was 1.26 % while return on average tangible common equity was 16.31 % ( 1 ) . These compare to returns on average assets of 1.20 % and 0.96 % , and returns on average tangible common equity of 15.24 % ( 1 ) and 12.90 % ( ¹ ) , in the first quarter of 2021 and the second quarter of 2020 , respectively . Second quarter 2021 highlights include : After adjustments ( 1 ) for certain nonrecurring items : Net income of $ 0.58 per diluted common share 1.39 % return on average assets 18.03 % return on average tangible common equity Net interest margin of 3.31 % on a fully tax - equivalent basis ( ¹ ) in line with expectations ° 9 basis point reduction from linked quarter driven by lower yields on earning assets and additional days during the second quarter Noninterest income of $ 43.0 million , or $ 43.1 million as adjusted ( 1 ) Record foreign exchange income of $ 12.0 million ; increased $ 1.3 million , or 11.9 % , compared to linked quarter Record wealth management fees of $ 6.2 million ; increased $ 0.6 million , or 10.4 % , compared to the linked quarter Noninterest expenses of $ 99.6 million , or $ 91.8 million as adjusted ( 1 ) Adjustments ( 1 ) include : $ 3.8 million of legal settlement costs $ 2.8 million of branch consolidation costs $ 1.2 million of tax credit investment write - downs Efficiency ratio of 63.5 % ; 58.4 % as adjusted ( 1 ) Loan balances declined during the quarter driven by $ 288.8 million of PPP forgiveness and elevated prepayments ( 1 ) Financial information in this release that is described as " adjusted " or that is presented on a fully tax equivalent basis is non - GAAP . For details on the calculation of these non - GAAP financial measures and a reconciliation to the GAAP financial measure , see the sections titled " Use of Non - GAAP Financial Measures " in this release and " Appendix : Non - GAAP to GAAP Reconciliation " in the accompanying slide presentation . 1