Page 1

November 9 , 2021 FINWARD BANCORP Finward Bancorp Announces Earnings for the Quarter and Nine Months Ended September 30 , 2021 MUNSTER , Ind . , Nov. 09 , 2021 ( GLOBE NEWSWIRE ) -- Finward Bancorp ( Nasdaq : FNWD ) ( the " Bancorp " ) , the holding company for Peoples Bank ( the " Bank ” ) , reported net income of $ 11.7 million , or $ 3.35 per share , for the nine months ended September 30 , 2021. Net income for the nine months ended September 30 , 2021 , decreased by $ 999 thousand ( 7.9 % ) , from the nine months ended September 30 , 2020 , primarily due to higher noninterest expense and lower noninterest income . For the nine months ended September 30 , 2021 , the return on average assets ( ROA ) was 0.98 % and the return on average equity ( ROE ) was 9.96 % . For the quarter ended September 30 , 2021 , the Bancorp's net income totaled $ 3.5 million , or $ 1.02 per share . Net income for the quarter ended September 30 , 2021 , decreased by $ 1.1 million ( 24.5 % ) , from the quarter ended September 30 , 2020 , primarily due to higher noninterest expense and lower noninterest income . For the third quarter of 2021 , the ROA was 0.87 % and the ROE was 8.90 % . During the nine months ended September 30 , 2021 , total assets increased by $ 113.6 million ( 7.6 % ) , with interest - earning assets increasing by $ 110.6 million ( 7.9 % ) . On September 30 , 2021 , interest - earning assets totaled $ 1.5 billion compared to $ 1.4 billion at December 31 , 2020. Earning assets represented 93.8 % of total assets at September 30 , 2021 , and 93.5 % of total assets at December 31 , 2020. The increase in total assets and interest earning assets for the nine months was primarily the result of increased securities and interest- bearing cash balances related to strong core deposit growth . " The third quarter was another strong quarter for Finward Bancorp , with earnings steady from the prior quarter . Commercial loan demand is healthy , and mortgage lending activity was stable from the prior quarter . Nearly 85 % of our employees have been vaccinated , allowing us to focus on our customers and our business strategy . Overall , economic conditions remain strong locally , and we are well positioned to take advantage of opportunities in the market , ” said Benjamin Bochnowski , President & CEO . " PPP fees continue to come in to support income , and interest expense saw further reduction . Other bank services such as Wealth Management are outperforming last year's levels . Credit is healthy , with another quarter of net recoveries and normalized provision levels . " " We are also focusing on the best ways to serve our customers as we work on closing and integrating our pending merger with Royal Financial . We recently announced the consolidation of our three Orland Park branches down to two in response to shifting customer preferences , and executed a pilot project with Purdue University Northwest . In this innovative partnership , we were able to enter into a donation - leaseback arrangement with the University . The University will have space to help build out their economic corridor , and