PEOPLES FINANCIAL SERVICES CORP. Reports Unaudited Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Earnings

MOOSIC, Pa., Jan. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Peoples Financial Services Corp. ("Peoples" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: PFIS), the bank holding company for Peoples Security Bank and Trust Company (the "Bank"), today reported unaudited financial results at and for the three months and year ended December 31, 2025.  

Peoples reported net income of $12.0 million, or $1.19 per diluted share for the three months ended December 31, 2025, compared to net income of $15.2 million, or $1.51 per diluted share for the three months ended September 30, 2025, and net income of $6.1 million, or $0.61 per diluted share for the three months ended December 31, 2024.  Return on average assets ("ROAA") and return on average equity ("ROAE") on an annualized basis for the three months ended December 31, 2025, was 0.92% and 9.16% compared to 1.19% and 12.02% for the three months ended September 30, 2025, and 0.47% and 5.07% for the three months ended December 31, 2024. Net income in the current quarter was negatively impacted by the recognition of a $2.2 million pre-tax loss ($1.8 million after tax) on the sale of available for sale ("AFS") investment securities associated with a strategic portfolio repositioning. Net income in the fourth quarter of 2024 included $5.0 million in acquisition-related expenses. Core net income, a non-GAAP measure[1], was $13.7 million, or $1.36 per diluted share for the three months ended December 31, 2025, and $10.0 million, or $0.99 per diluted share for the comparable three-month period of 2024.

For the year ended December 31, 2025, net income was $59.2 million, or $5.88 per diluted share an increase of $50.7 million compared to $8.5 million, or $0.99 per diluted share for 2024, which was primarily due to a full year of combined operations following the merger with FNCB Bancorp, Inc. ("FNCB" or "FNCB merger") on July 1, 2024, coupled with a reduction in the provision for credit losses. Higher levels of interest-earning assets, higher transaction volumes and purchase accounting related accretion resulting from the FNCB merger resulted in the increase in net interest income, noninterest income and noninterest expense when compared to the prior year.  Net income in 2024 included acquisition-related expenses of $16.2 million compared to $0.2 million in 2025, and a non-recurring provision of $14.3 million for non-purchase credit deteriorated ("PDC") loans acquired in the FNCB merger. Core net income, a non-GAAP measure¹ was $61.1 million, or $6.07 per diluted share for the year ended December 31, 2025, and $32.4 million, or $3.77 per diluted share for the year ended December 31, 2024. The Company's consolidated financial results for any periods ended or including periods prior to July 1, 2024, do not reflect the financial results of FNCB and its subsidiaries. 

"We delivered solid full-year results in 2025, with net income of $59.2 million driven by strong net interest income and a lower provision for credit losses, reflecting the benefits of our expanded balance sheet and disciplined credit performance," said Gerard Champi, Chief Executive Officer of Peoples. "While fourth-quarter earnings were impacted by a strategic $2.2 million pre-tax loss related to the repositioning of our available-for-sale securities portfolio, this action strengthens our balance sheet and positions us well for future periods. Excluding this item, core earnings demonstrated continued momentum, supported by higher earning asset levels, increased transaction activity, and ongoing accretion from the FNCB merger. As we move forward, we remain focused on disciplined growth, operating efficiency, and delivering long-term value for our shareholders," concluded Champi.  

In addition to evaluating its results of operations in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"), Peoples routinely supplements its evaluation with an analysis of certain non-GAAP financial measures, such as tangible stockholders' equity, core net income and pre-provision revenue ratios, and tax-equivalent net interest income and related ratios, among others. The reported results included in this release contain items, which Peoples considers non-core, namely net gains and losses on the sale of AFS investment securities, acquisition-related expenses and merger-related adjustments to the allowance for credit losses ("ACL") for nonrecurring provisions for purchase credit deteriorated ("PCD") and non-PCD loans.  Peoples believes the reported non-GAAP financial measures provide information useful to investors in understanding its operating performance and trends.  Where non-GAAP disclosures are used in this press release, a reconciliation to the comparable GAAP measure is provided in the accompanying tables.  The non-GAAP financial measures Peoples uses may differ from the non-GAAP financial measures of other financial institutions and should not be viewed as a substitute for GAAP.

NOTABLES

• The Company completed a repositioning of a portion of its investment securities portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2025. As part of the repositioning, the Company sold $78.6 million of lower-yielding, U.S. treasury bonds with a weighted average yield of 1.18%, resulting in an after-tax loss of approximately $1.8 million. The net proceeds of approximately $76.1 million from the sale were used to purchase higher-yielding investment securities that have been classified as AFS including $38.2 million of U.S. agency mortgage-backed securities and $37.9 million of tax-exempt municipal bonds. The purchased securities, which have been classified as AFS, have a weighted average book yield of approximately 4.67%. The Company expects to recover the after-tax loss recorded on the sale within approximately 10 months.
• Core net income, a non-GAAP measure¹ was $13.7 million, or $1.36 per diluted share for the three months ended December 31, 2025, and $10.0 million, or $0.99 per diluted share for the comparable three-month period of 2024. For the year ended December 31, 2025, core net income, a non-GAAP measure¹ was $61.1 million, or $6.07 per diluted share, and $32.4 million, or $3.77 per diluted share for the year ended December 31, 2024.
• ROAE for the three months annualized and year ended December 31, 2025, was 9.16% and 11.89% respectively, and 5.07% and 2.07% for the corresponding periods of 2024. Core ROAE, a non-GAAP measure¹ was 10.49% and 12.27% for the three months annualized and year ended December 31, 2025, compared to 8.31% and 7.88% for the corresponding periods of 2024.
• ROAA for the three months annualized and year ended December 31, 2025, was 0.92% and 1.17% respectively, and 0.47% and 0.19% for the corresponding periods of 2024. Core ROAA, a non-GAAP measure¹, was 1.05% and 1.21% for the three months annualized and year ended December 31, 2025, compared to 0.76% and 0.72% for the three months annualized and year ended December 31, 2024.
• Book value per common share at December 31, 2025, increased to $52.01 from $46.94 at December 31, 2024. Tangible book value per common share, a non-GAAP measure¹, increased to $41.64 at December 31, 2025, compared to $35.88 at December 31, 2024.
• Total loans increased $50.5 million or 5.0% annualized during the three months ended December 31, 2025; for the year ended December 31, 2025, total loans increased $73.4 million, or 1.8% to $4.1 billion.
• Non-performing assets to total assets improved to 0.23% at December 31, 2025, compared to 0.45% at December 31, 2024, and non-performing assets to total loans, net and foreclosed assets improved to 0.30% at December 31, 2025, compared to 0.58% at December 31, 2024.

INCOME STATEMENT REVIEW 

• Net interest margin ("NIM"), calculated on a fully taxable equivalent ("FTE") basis, a non-GAAP measure¹, for the three months ended December 31, 2025, improved 35 basis points to 3.60% compared to 3.25% for the three months ended December 31, 2024. For the full year, the FTE NIM expanded 74 basis points to 3.58% in 2025 compared to 2.84% in 2024.
• The FTE yield on interest-earning assets, a non-GAAP measure[2], increased 5 basis points to 5.56% for the fourth quarter of 2025, from 5.51% for the same quarter of 2024, and increased 43 basis points to 5.57% for the year ended December 31, 2025, from 5.14% for the year ended December 31, 2024.
• The cost of funds, which represents the average rate paid on total interest-bearing liabilities, decreased 33 basis points to 2.55% for the three months ended December 31, 2025, from 2.88% for the three months ended December 31, 2024, and decreased 34 basis points to 2.59% for the year ended December 31, 2025, from 2.93% for the year ended December 31, 2024. 
• The cost of interest-bearing deposits decreased 45 basis points for the three months ended December 31, 2025, to 2.30% from 2.75% in the three months ended December 31, 2024, and decreased 43 basis points to 2.39% for the year ended December 31, 2025, from 2.82% for the year ended December 31, 2024.
• The cost of total deposits, which includes the impact of noninterest-bearing deposits was 1.82% for the fourth quarter of 2025, a decrease of 38 basis points from 2.20% for the same quarter of 2024. For the full year, the cost of total deposits decreased 40 basis points to 1.89% in 2025 from 2.29% in 2024.
• The efficiency ratio, a non-GAAP measure[3], was 59.53% and 56.45% for the three months and year ended December 31, 2025, respectively, compared to 62.67% and 63.83% for the respective periods of 2024.

Fourth Quarter 2025 Results – Comparison to Fourth Quarter 2024

Net interest income on a FTE basis for the three months ended December 31, 2025, increased $4.5 million to $43.7 million from $39.2 million for the three months ended December 31, 2024.  The increase in FTE net interest income was due to a $0.9 million increase in tax-equivalent interest income, a non-GAAP measure¹, coupled with a $3.6 million decrease in interest expense.

The $0.9 million increase in FTE interest income was largely due to an increase in the FTE yield on earning assets, primarily taxable loans and taxable and tax-exempt investments, coupled with an increase in total average earning assets. The FTE yield on earning assets increased 5 basis points to 5.56% for the fourth quarter of 2025 from 5.51% for the comparable quarter of 2024. The yield on taxable loans increased 15 basis points to 6.19% from 6.04% comparing the fourth quarters of 2025 and 2024, respectively. The yield on the total investment securities portfolio increased 17 basis points to 3.27% for the three months ended December 31, 2025, from 3.10% for the same three months of 2024 as new purchases were added at yields higher than existing portfolio yields. Total average earning assets increased $2.2 million comparing the fourth quarters of 2025 and 2024, due primarily to increases in average investments and federal funds sold, partially offset by a reduction in average loans. Accretion associated with purchase accounting fair value discounts on purchased loans was $4.1 million for the three months ended December 31, 2025, and $4.4 million for the same period of 2024. Average investments totaled $643.1 million in the three months ended December 31, 2025, and $628.9 million in the three months ended December 31, 2024, an increase of $14.2 million.  Average federal funds sold increased $5.2 million to $134.7 million for the three months ended December 31, 2025, from $129.5 million for the three months ended December 31, 2024.  Average loans, net, decreased $17.8 million for the three months ended December 31, 2025, compared to the prior year three-month period ended December 31, 2024.

The decrease in interest expense, comparing the three month periods ended December 31, 2025, and December 31, 2024, was due primarily to decreases in average deposit rates, coupled with a reduction in higher cost brokered deposits, partially offset by increases in average volumes and rates on borrowed funds, which were largely related to the net new issuance of subordinated debt in the second quarter of 2025 in the amount of $52.0 million. Average interest-bearing deposits decreased $153.4 million to $3.4 billion, or 78.9% of total average deposits for the three months ended December 31, 2025, from $3.6 billion, or 79.8% of average total deposits, for the three months ended December 31, 2024.  Average brokered deposits decreased $140.0 million to $158.5 million for the three months ended December 31, 2025, from $298.5 million for the comparable three-month period of 2024. Average noninterest bearing deposits increased $9.7 million to $914.0 million, or 21.1% of total average deposits for the three months ended December 31, 2025, from $904.3 million, or 20.2% of total average deposits for the three months ended December 31, 2024.

Average total borrowings increased $77.1 million for the three months ended December 31, 2025, as compared to the same period of 2024, which was primarily due to a combination of increases in long-term borrowings and the new issuance of subordinated debt, which occurred in the second quarter of 2025.  Additionally, the Company's cost of borrowings increased 42 basis points to 5.77% for the three months ended December 31, 2025, compared to 5.35% for the same three months of 2024. In June 2025, the Company called and redeemed $33.0 million of its subordinated notes due in June 2030 that repriced to 9.08% and issued $85.0 million in fixed-to-floating rate subordinated notes due June 2035 at an initial fixed rate through June 2030 of 7.75%.

Short-term borrowings averaged $31.8 million for the three-month period ended December 31, 2025, at an average cost of 3.87% compared to $39.3 million at an average cost of 4.80% for the comparable three-month period in 2024.  Long-term debt, which includes term borrowings from the FHLB of Pittsburgh, averaged $145.4 million for the three-month period ended December 31, 2025, at an average cost of 4.54% compared to $111.1 million at an average cost of 4.97% for the three months ended December 31, 2024. Subordinated debt averaged $83.1 million for the three-month period ended December 31, 2025, at an average cost of 8.35% compared to $33.0 million at an average cost of 5.35% for the three months ended December 31, 2024.

For the three months ended December 31, 2025, the provision for credit losses was $1.0 million, a decrease of $2.4 million from the $3.4 million recorded in the year ago period. The decrease was due primarily to downward adjustments to qualitative factors on pooled loans, partially offset by an increase of $384 thousand in specific reserves on individually evaluated loans, while model loss rates were substantially unchanged.

Noninterest income was $3.7 million and $5.5 million for the three months ended December 31, 2025, and 2024, respectively.  The quarter ended December 31, 2025 includes a $2.2 million loss on the sale of AFS treasury securities as part of a strategy to restructure the portfolio with higher-yielding securities.  Interest rate swap income increased to $0.7 million from $0.3 million due to increased commercial loan volume. 

Noninterest expense decreased $3.8 million to $31.1 million for the three months ended December 31, 2025, from $34.8 million for the three months ended December 31, 2024, which primarily reflected the absence of acquisition related expenses, partially offset by increased occupancy and equipment expenses due to the corporate office relocation and higher maintenance costs, and increased professional services including loan review services for a larger combined loan portfolio and consulting services related to SOX control enhancement, process improvement and implementation of a new on-line account opening platform.  Acquisition-related expenses were $5.0 million in the quarter ended December 31, 2024, with no comparable expenses in the quarter ended December 31, 2025.  Occupancy and equipment expenses were $7.3 million for the three months ended December 31, 2025, and $6.4 million for the same three months of 2024.  Professional services totaled $1.9 million for the three months ended December 31, 2025, and $0.8 million for the same three months of 2024.

Income tax expense was $2.7 million for the three months ended December 31, 2025, compared to a benefit of $0.3 million for the three months ended December 31, 2024.  The effective tax rate was 18.6% for the three months ended December 31, 2025, while the prior year's quarter resulted in a tax benefit rate of 4.7%. 

Full Year Results – 2025 vs. 2024  

Net interest income for the year ended December 31, 2025, increased $50.0 million to $166.0 million from $116.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. FTE net interest income, a non-GAAP measure[4], for year ended December 31, 2025, increased $50.3 million to $168.7 million from $118.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. 

Tax-equivalent interest income, a non-GAAP measure¹, increased $48.7 million to $262.5 million in 2025 from $213.8 million in 2024, due to higher levels of interest-earning assets such as loans and investments and an additional $7.2 million from accretion of purchase accounting marks on acquired loans. Average loans increased $541.4 million and average investments increased $24.1 million comparing the years ended December 31, 2025, and 2024.  The tax-equivalent yield on interest-earning assets, a non-GAAP measure¹, was 5.57% for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to 5.14% for the year ended December 31, 2024.  Loan yields increased 37 basis points to 5.99% while investment yields increased 72 basis points to 3.15% for the year ended December 31, 2025. Average federal funds sold decreased $20.2 million to $58.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, from $78.7 million for the same period of 2024. Additionally, the average rate on federal funds sold decreased 111 basis points reflecting the 75-basis point cut to the federal funds rate by the Federal Open Market Committee in 2025.

Interest expense decreased $1.7 million to $93.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, from $95.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, which was primarily driven by a reduction in funding costs that outweighed increases to average balances. Average interest-bearing liabilities increased $354.8 million to $3.6 billion from $3.3 billion comparing the years ended December 31, 2025, and 2024, which reflected higher volumes of both deposits and borrowings. The cost of interest-bearing liabilities during the year ended December 31, 2025, decreased 34 basis points to 2.59% from 2.93% for the year ended December 31, 2024.  The cost of interest-bearing deposit products decreased 43 basis points to 2.39% for the year ended December 31, 2025, from 2.82% for the prior year, while borrowing costs increased 42 basis points to 5.71% from 5.29% for the year ended December 31, 2024. The increase in the cost of borrowed funds was largely due to the previously mentioned issuance of new subordinated debt, partially offset by a reduction in market rates for short-term borrowings.

For the year ended December 31, 2025, a provision for credit losses of $98 thousand was recorded compared to a prior year provision of $19.1 million. The prior year provision included a non-recurring, Day 1 provision of $14.3 million for non-PCD loans acquired in the FNCB merger. The 2025 provision was due primarily to improvement in qualitative factors driven by a reduction in commercial real estate concentration levels and a seasoning of the equipment financing portfolio, while overall model loss rates were substantially unchanged.  Specific reserves on individually evaluated loans increased $384 thousand. 

Noninterest income was $21.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, and $18.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2024.  The increase in non-interest income was primarily attributable to the increased size and scale of the Company following the FNCB merger. Comparing the years ended December 31, 2025, and 2024, service charges and fees increased $2.9 million, wealth management income increased $0.8 million, income from interest rate swap transactions increased $0.8 million, bank owned life insurance cash surrender value increased $0.5 million and merchant services income increased $0.4 million. Partially offsetting the increases was the net loss on the sale of AFS investment securities of $2.2 million resulting from the Company's partial investment portfolio repositioning.

Noninterest expense for the year ended December 31, 2025, was $115.4 million, an increase of $8.7 million from $106.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. Almost all noninterest expense line items increased as a result of the FNCB merger and the expanded operations of the combined Company. Salaries and employee benefits expenses increased $10.6 million compared to 2024 due to the addition of staff associated with the FNCB merger.  Occupancy and equipment expenses were higher by $5.2 million in the current period due to increased technology costs related to system integration and increased account and transaction volumes, and higher facilities costs. Amortization of intangible assets increased $3.0 million in the year ended December 31, 2025, on the amortization of merger-related intangibles, primarily core deposit intangibles. Partially offsetting these increases was a decrease of $16.0 million in merger-related expenses to $0.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2025. The efficiency ratio, a non-GAAP measure[5], improved to 56.45% for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to 63.83% for the year ended December 31, 2024.

The provision for income taxes for the year ended December 31, 2025, totaled $13.0 million and the effective tax rate was 18.1% as compared to a tax benefit of $30 thousand, or 0.4% for the year ended December 31, 2024.  

BALANCE SHEET REVIEW

At December 31, 2025, total assets, loans, and deposits were $5.3 billion, $4.1 billion, and $4.4 billion, respectively.

Total loans, which were $4.1 billion at December 31, 2025, increased $73.4 million as compared to December 31, 2024. Increases in commercial loans, commercial and residential real estate loans, and consumer loans were partially offset by reductions to equipment financing, and indirect auto loans.

Total investments were $587.2 million at December 31, 2025, compared to $606.9 million at December 31, 2024.  At December 31, 2025, AFS securities totaled $512.6 million and the held to maturity securities totaled $72.0 million.  The unrealized loss on AFS securities decreased $19.9 million from $49.0 million at December 31, 2024, to $29.1 million at December 31, 2025.  The unrealized losses on the held to maturity portfolio totaled $9.2 million and $13.0 million at December 31, 2025, and December 31, 2024, respectively.

Total deposits increased $26.5 million to $4.4 billion at December 31, 2025. Noninterest-bearing deposits increased $19.0 million to $954.5 million at December 31, 2025, from $935.5 million at December 31, 2024. Interest-bearing deposits increased $7.5 million comparing December 31, 2025, and 2024, which largely reflected increases in interest-bearing demand, money market accounts and retail time deposits, partially offset by a reduction in brokered deposits. The Company had $152.2 million and $256.4 million of longer-term brokered CDs at December 31, 2025, and December 31, 2024, respectively. As part of strategic balance sheet management initiatives, the Company reduced its higher rate brokered CD portfolio by $104.2 million during 2025. Total retail deposits, which exclude brokered deposits, increased $130.7 million to $4.3 billion at December 31, 2025, from $4.2 billion at December 31, 2024.

The Company's deposit base is diversified and consisted of 40.6% retail accounts, 35.6% commercial accounts, 20.4% municipal relationships and 3.4% brokered deposits at December 31, 2025.  At December 31, 2025, total uninsured deposits were approximately $1.5 billion, or 34.3% of total deposits.  Included in the uninsured total at December 31, 2025, were $494.3 million of municipal deposits collateralized by letters of credit issued by the FHLB, and $2.9 million of affiliate company deposits. 

In addition to deposit gathering and current long-term debt, the Company has additional sources of liquidity available such as cash and cash equivalents, overnight borrowings from the FHLB, the Federal Reserve's Discount Window, correspondent bank lines of credit, brokered deposit capacity and unencumbered securities.  At December 31, 2025, available borrowing capacity totaled $1.0 billion at the FHLB and $349.0 million at the Federal Reserve's Discount Window.  At December 31, 2025, the Company had $269.0 million in cash and cash equivalents, an increase of $133.1 million from $135.9 million at December 31, 2024.  For additional information on the deposit portfolio and additional sources of liquidity, see the tables on page 17.

The Company maintained its well capitalized position at December 31, 2025.  Stockholders' equity equaled $519.8 million or $52.01 per share at December 31, 2025, compared to $469.0 million or $46.94 per share at December 31, 2024.  The increase in stockholders' equity from December 31, 2024, is primarily attributable to net income and a $16.0 million decrease to accumulated other comprehensive loss ("AOCL") resulting primarily from a reduction in the unrealized loss on AFS securities, partially offset by dividends to shareholders. The net after tax unrealized loss on AFS securities included in AOCL at December 31, 2025, and December 31, 2024, was $22.8 million and $38.3 million, respectively.

Tangible book value, a non-GAAP measure[6], increased to $41.64 per share at December 31, 2025, from $35.88 per share at December 31, 2024.  Dividends declared for the year ended December 31, 2025, amounted to $2.47 per share.  

ASSET QUALITY REVIEW

Nonperforming assets, which include nonperforming loans, loans past due 90 days or more and still accruing, and foreclosed assets, were $12.1 million or 0.30% of loans, net, and foreclosed assets at December 31, 2025, compared to $23.0 million or 0.58% of loans, net, and foreclosed assets at December 31, 2024.  As a percentage of total assets, nonperforming assets were 0.23% at December 31, 2025, compared to 0.45% at December 31, 2024. The reduction in nonperforming assets was largely due to an $11.7 million decrease in nonaccrual loans following the resolution of several large commercial credit relationships.  At December 31, 2025, the Company had one foreclosed commercial property recorded at $0.8 million compared to one foreclosed residential property recorded at $27 thousand at December 31, 2024.

During the three months ended December 31, 2025, net charge-offs were $1.8 million and the provision for credit losses was $1.0 million, compared to net charge-offs of $0.9 million and a provision for credit losses of $3.4 million for the same period of 2024. Net charge-offs in the current quarter included a valuation adjustment of $0.8 million related to a commercial property foreclosure. During the year ended December 31, 2025, net charge-offs totaled $2.9 million and the Company recognized a provision for credit losses of $98 thousand.  The allowance for credit losses equaled $39.0 million or 0.96% of loans, net, at December 31, 2025, compared to $41.8 million or 1.05% of loans, net, at December 31, 2024.

About Peoples:

Peoples Financial Services Corp. is the bank holding company of Peoples Security Bank and Trust Company, an independent community bank serving its retail and commercial customers through 40 full-service community banking offices located within Allegheny, Bucks, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Luzerne, Monroe, Montgomery, Northampton, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming Counties in Pennsylvania, Middlesex County in New Jersey and Broome County in New York.  Each office, interdependent with the community, offers a comprehensive array of financial products and services to individuals, businesses, not-for-profit organizations, and government entities.  Peoples' business philosophy includes offering direct access to senior management and other officers and providing friendly, informed and courteous service, and local and timely decision making.  For more information visit psbt.com.

Safe Harbor Forward-Looking Statements:

We make statements in this press release, and we may from time to time make other statements regarding our outlook or expectations for future financial or operating results and/or other matters regarding or affecting Peoples Financial Services Corp. and its subsidiaries (collectively, "Peoples") and other statements that are not historical facts that are considered "forward-looking statements" as defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of such words as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "should," "planned," "estimated," "intend" and "potential." For these statements, Peoples claims the protection of the statutory safe harbors for forward-looking statements.

Peoples cautions you that undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements and that a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated in any forward-looking statement. Such factors include, but are not limited to: macroeconomic trends, including interest rates and inflation and their effect on our investment values; the effects of any recession in the United States; political instability and the consequences thereof, such as any shutdown of the U.S. federal government; the impact on financial markets from geopolitical conflict, including from wars, military conflict or trade policies, including tariffs, retaliatory tariffs, tariff counter-measures, or the threat of such actions; impairment charges relating to our investment portfolio; credit risks in connection with our lending activities; the economic health of our market area; our exposure to commercial and industrial, construction, commercial real estate, and equipment finance loans; our ability to maintain an adequate allowance for credit losses; access to liquidity; the strength of our customer deposit levels; unrealized losses; reliance on our subsidiaries; accounting procedures, policies and requirements; changes in the value of goodwill; future pension plan costs; our ability to retain key personnel; the strength of our disclosure controls and procedures; environmental liabilities; reliance on third-party vendors and service providers; competition from non-bank entities; the development and use of AI in business processes, services, and products; our ability to prevent, detect and respond to cybersecurity threats and incidents; a failure of information technology, whether due to a breach, cybersecurity incident, or ability to keep pace with growth and developments; our ability to comply with privacy and data protection requirements; changes in U.S. or regional economic conditions; our ability to compete effectively in our industry; the soundness of other financial institutions; adverse changes (or the threat of such changes) in laws and regulations; fiscal and monetary policies of the federal government and its agencies; a failure to meet minimum capital requirements; our ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the FNCB merger; future acquisitions or a change in control; and other factors that may be described in our Annual Reports on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time.

The forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this release, and, except as may be required by applicable law or regulation, Peoples assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements.

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