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Exhibit 99.1 premier Pfinancial financial corp . press release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact : Paul Nungester EVP and CFO 419.785.8700 PNungester@first-fed.com P PREMIER FINANCIAL CORP . ANNOUNCES SOLID SECOND QUARTER RESULTS AND CORE LOAN GROWTH Second Quarter 2021 Highlights Net income of $ 31.4 million , up $ 2.3 million ( 8.0 % ) or up $ 0.7 million ( 2.2 % ) excluding merger - related provision and expenses from 2020 second quarter • • Earnings per share of $ 0.84 , up $ 0.06 ( 7.7 % ) or up $ 0.02 ( 2.4 % ) excluding merger - related provision and expenses from 2020 second quarter Service fee income of $ 6.3 million , up $ 0.7 million ( 11.9 % ) from 2020 second quarter • Loan growth of $ 45 million excluding PPP ( up 3.6 % annualized ) including $ 36 million for commercial loans ( up 4.4 % annualized ) during 2021 second quarter Average deposit costs down 4 basis points to 0.23 % from first quarter 2021 Asset quality improved with non - performing assets down to 0.54 % of assets , classifieds down to 1.7 % of loans and effectively 100 % of COVID deferrals return to pay for 2021 second quarter • Allowance to Loans ratio of 1.33 % , or 1.41 % excluding PPP loans for 2021 second quarter • Pre - tax pre - provision ROAA of 1.90 % for 2021 second quarter • ROA , ROE and ROTE of 1.67 % , 12.50 % and 19.05 % for 2021 second quarter Increased dividend $ 0.01 to $ 0.27 per share , up 23 % year to date DEFIANCE , OHIO ( July 29 , 2021 ) – Premier Financial Corp. ( Nasdaq : PFC ) ( “ Premier " or the " Company " ) today announced 2021 second quarter results . Net income for the second quarter of 2021 was $ 31.4 million , or $ 0.84 per diluted common share , compared to $ 29.1 million , or $ 0.78 per diluted common share , for the second quarter of 2020. The prior year's results include the impact of $ 2.1 million of acquisition - related charges for the three months ended June 30 , 2020 , which had an after - tax cost of $ 1.7 million or $ 0.04 per diluted common share . Net income for the six months ended June 30 , 2021 , was $ 72.4 million , or $ 1.94 per diluted common share , compared to $ 6.6 million , or $ 0.19 per diluted common share , for the six months ended June 30 , 2020 . The six - month year - over - year comparison is substantially impacted by the acquisition of United Community Financial Corp. ( " UCFC " ) on January 31 , 2020 , with the prior year's provision expense of $ 48.2 million that included $ 25.9 million related to acquisition accounting for an after - tax cost of $ 20.5 million , or $ 0.59 per diluted common share . The first half of 2021 included a provision recovery of $ 10.9 million , which had an after - tax benefit of $ 8.6 million , or $ 0.23 per