Business First Bancshares, Inc. · NASDAQ:BFST
Business First Bancshares — Q3 2025 Earnings Presentation
40 slides from Business First Bancshares's earnings presentation, Sep 30, 2025
Slide 1: Q3 2025 Results
Q3 2025 Results
Slide 2: Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS Legal Disclosures 3 Guiding Principles & Social Impact 4–5 Business First Bancshares, Inc. Overview 6 – 11 Liquidity and Deposits 12 Securities Portfolio 13 Branches & Noninterest Revenue 14 – 15 Financial Results Q3 2025 Financial Highlights 17 – 18 Credit Metrics Analysis 19 Yiel
Slide 3: Legal Disclosures
LEGAL DISCLOSURES Special Note Concerning Forward-Looking Statements This investor presentation contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Liti
Slide 4: Guiding Principles
GUIDING PRINCIPLES b1BANK’s five guiding principles reflect our core beliefs and values, which drive all decisions irrespective of our goals, strategies, or external factors. These tenets are more than guides for making business decisions; they are the core of our culture, driving our day-to-day int
Slide 5: Social Impact
SOCIAL IMPACT b1COMMUNITY 2025 YTD Total Volunteerism: • 2,972 Hours • 805 hours of financial literacy education and non- profit service b1 FOUNDATION 2021 Inception Through September 2025: 2,972 • Mentored 990 businesses Volunteer 990 • Conducted training classes to help 4,015 entrepreneurs start o
Slide 6: Business First Bancshares, Inc. Overview
BUSINESS FIRST BANCSHARES, INC. OVERVIEW Company Overview Ticker: BFST (Nasdaq) Market Capitalization: $699 million (as of September 30, 2025) Headquarters: Baton Rouge, Louisiana Franchise Highlights: • Diversified commercial-focused bank with $8.0 billion in assets and operations in Louisiana, Tex
Slide 7: Executive Management
EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT Jude Melville Chairman, President and CEO Gregory Robertson Jerry Vascocu Philip Jordan EVP, Chief Financial Officer President, b1BANK EVP, Chief Banking Officer Keith Mansfield Saundra Strong Kathryn Manning EVP, Chief Operations Officer EVP, General Counsel EVP, Chief Risk Off
Slide 8: Diversified Footprint
DIVERSIFIED FOOTPRINT Dallas Fort Worth Region North Louisiana Region # of Banking Centers: 12 # of Banking Centers(1): 9 # of LPOs: 1 Total Loans: $1,092.7 Total Loans: $1,919.1 Total Deposits: $918.8 Total Deposits: $1,002.7 Deposits / Banking Center(2): $114.9 Deposits / Banking Center: $83.6 Hou
Slide 9: Long-Term Profitability
LONG-TERM PROFITABILITY Diluted EPS Available to Common Shareholders Tangible Book Value Per Share $23.86 $22.05 $2.69 $21.25 $2.61 $2.52 $2.62 $2.49 $19.12 $17.12 $17.77 $15.60 $16.28 $2.05 $1.80 $1.45 $19.68 $15.34 $21.47 $17.31 $19.88 $16.80 $21.24 $17.71 $20.25 $16.17 $22.58 $18.62 $24.62 $19.92
Slide 10: Deposit Growth Through Organic and M&A Strategy
DEPOSIT GROWTH THROUGH ORGANIC AND M&A STRATEGY • Deposit strategy reflects consistent organic growth 2024 augmented with opportunistic M&A • Acquired Oakwood and $714M in total deposits in 2024 • Total deposit CAGR of ~22% since Q4’15 • $549M organic growth in total deposits in 2024(2) 2022 • Organ
Slide 11: Proven M&A Track Record
PROVEN M&A TRACK RECORD • BFST has a proven M&A track record and has successfully closed and integrated six whole-bank acquisitions and two non-bank acquisitions since 2015 Oakwood Bancshares • Closed 10/1/24 Texas Citizens Bancorp • $862MM in assets(3) • Most recent ability to close was proven with
Slide 12: Liquidity and Deposits
LIQUIDITY AND DEPOSITS Liquidity Sources • Continue to carry higher cash balances to support liquidity, with 5.89% of total assets at 9/30/2025. FHLB Borrowings Capacity $ 1,362 Unencumbered Securities $ 600 • Remain focused on core deposits, which represent over 84% of total deposits. Available Exc
Slide 13: Securities Portfolio
SECURITIES PORTFOLIO AFS Securities Portfolio • Portfolio serves as a source of on-balance sheet liquidity and provides interest income stability during times of declining rates. • With the relatively high-rate environment, the Bank is reinvesting portfolio cash flows and taking opportunities to mod
Slide 14: Optimizing Branch Network and Infrastructure Investments
OPTIMIZING BRANCH NETWORK AND INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS BFST Footprint(1) b1BANK (Organic / De Novo) Snyder, TX (2) (15 active / 2 closed) American Gateway Pedestal (4) (6 active / 4 closed) (16 active / 2 Sold / 4 closed ) Minden Texas Citizens (2 active / 0 closed) (5 active / 1 closed) Richland
Slide 15: Noninterest Revenue Opportunities – Correspondent Banking
NONINTEREST REVENUE OPPORTUNITIES – CORRESPONDENT BANKING FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS GROUP (FIG) Correspondent Revenue Growth • September 2020, b1BANK announced the formation of its Financial Institutions Group (FIG) • FIG currently maintains $545 million in total loan participations sold(2) and has $17
Slide 16: Financial Results
@ BUSINESS FIRST Financial Results
Slide 17: Quarterly Financial Highlights
QUARTERLY FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS For the Quarter Ended, 9/30/2024 12/31/2024 3/31/2025 6/30/2025 9/30/2025 Diluted Earnings per Common Share $0.65 $0.51 $0.65 $0.70 $0.73 ROAA 0.97 % 0.78 % 1.00 % 1.07 % 1.08 % ROACE 10.76 8.23 10.48 10.87 10.80 Net Interest Margin 3.51 3.61 3.68 3.68 3.68 (1) Efficie
Slide 18: Balance Sheet Highlights
BALANCE SHEET HIGHLIGHTS Change vs. For the quarter ended, $ millions 9/30/2025 6/30/2025 9/30/2024 Q3'25 Highlights Loan balances decreased $26.6 million, or 0.44% for the quarter (1.74% annualized) driven by decreases in Commercial ($40.2 Gross Loans (Excl. HFS) $6,021.1 0% 15% million) and Commer
Slide 19: Credit Metrics Analysis
CREDIT METRICS ANALYSIS Past Due Loans(1) Nonperforming Loans(2) ACL & FV Discount(3) Net Charge-offs Note: Dollars in millions. Peer average based on average of last five quarters ending 2Q25, Gulf South Peer Group defined as: FGBI, HBCP, ISTR, OBK, RRBI, VBTX, TCBX, STEL. (1) Past due loans includ
Slide 20: Yield / Rate Analysis – Trailing Twelve Months
YIELD / RATE ANALYSIS – TRAILING TWELVE MONTHS 8.00% 7.05% 6.99% 6.96% 7.01% 7.00% 6.00% 5.00% 4.50% 4.50% 4.50% 4.25% 4.00% 3.61% 3.68% 3.68% 3.68% 3.56% 3.64% 3.64% 3.63% 3.53% 3.36% 3.00% 3.35% 3.31% 2.81% 2.70% 2.64% 2.67% 2.00% 1.00% 0.00% Q4'24 Q1'25 Q2'25 Q3'25 (1) NIM NIM ex. Accretion Cost
Slide 21: Yield / Rate Analysis – Long Term Margin Stability
YIELD / RATE ANALYSIS – LONG TERM MARGIN STABILITY 7.00% 6.00% 5.50% 5.50% 5.50% 5.50% 5.25% 5.00% 5.00% 5.00% 4.50% 4.50% 4.50% 4.50% 4.26% 4.23% 4.25% 4.06% 3.98% 4.05% 4.06% 3.87% 4.00% 3.71% 3.75% 3.57% 3.51% 3.63% 3.61% 3.61% 3.68% 3.68% 3.68% 3.99% 3.91% 3.92% 3.50% 3.51% 3.81% 3.77% 3.32% 3.4
Slide 22: Estimated Deposit Beta in Easing Rate Cycle
ESTIMATED DEPOSIT BETA IN EASING RATE CYCLE • Internal modeling implies an estimated total deposit beta of 45% – 55%, in the near-term downward rate cycle • Overall Core CD balance(1) retention rate was 83% during September • $177 million remaining Core CD balances(1) will mature in 4Q25, with $225
Slide 23: Loan Portfolio Overview – Repricing Opportunity
LOAN PORTFOLIO OVERVIEW – REPRICING OPPORTUNITY Loan Portfolio HFI (as of 9/30/25) Maturities by Loan Type Fixed Rate Loans Maturing Beyond 1-Year (dollars in millions) Q4'26 FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 > FY 2028 60.3% of total loans C&D $ 4.6 $ 4.6 $ 29.3 $ 8.5 $ 48.5 HFI are floating / Owner-Occupied
Slide 24: Loan Portfolio
@ BUSINESS FIRST Loan Portfolio
Slide 25: Operating Loan Growth
OPERATING LOAN GROWTH Loan Composition by Market 6,000 7.3% 5,000 32.2% 4,000 3,000 14.2% 5.0% 2,000 9.9% 18.3% 1,000 13.0% 13.2% 0 12/31/16 12/31/17 12/31/18 12/31/19 12/31/20 12/31/21 12/31/22 12/31/23 12/31/24 09/30/25 Capital North Louisiana Southwest Louisiana Bayou Greater New Orleans Dallas H
Slide 26: Loan Composition
LOAN COMPOSITION Total Loan Portfolio Composition Top 5 Exposure Categories Outstanding Unfunded Average NPLs % of Balance Commitment Loan Size Total Loans Commercial $1.85 billion $980 million $458 thousand 1.27% CRE - Owner-Occupied $1.08 billion $66 million $936 thousand 0.46% $6.02 CRE - Non Own
Slide 27: Loan Composition: Commercial
LOAN COMPOSITION: COMMERCIAL Commercial Loans by Collateral Commercial Loans by Market Agricultural, Houston, 6.3% 8.2% Southwest Cash/Securities, Louisiana, 7.3% 6.5% AR & DFW, 37.5% Titled Greater New Inventory, Collateral, Orleans, 11.2% 39.9% 11.1% Capital, 9.8% All Other, Bayou, 6.7% 24.7% Equi
Slide 28: Loan Composition: Commercial Real Estate
LOAN COMPOSITION: COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE C&D Composition CRE Composition - Owner Occupied CRE Composition - Income Producing C&D Highlights 1.1% 5.8% • $638.9 million total portfolio 9.5% 14.9% 20.9% 8.0% 16.9% 9.1% • $23.4 million largest relationship(2) 27.5% 9.4% • $635 thousand average loan size
Slide 29: Appendix
@ BUSINESS FIRST APPENDIX
Slide 30: Historical Financial Summary
HISTORICAL FINANCIAL SUMMARY For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, YTD 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Balance Sheet & Capital Total Assets $4,160,360 $4,726,378 $5,990,460 $6,584,550 $7,857,090 $7,953,862 Gross Loans (Excl. HFS) 2,991,355 3,189,608 4,606,176 4,992,785 5,981,399 6,021,055 Deposits 3,
Slide 31: Commercial Real Estate – Historical Performance
COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE – HISTORICAL PERFORMANCE Q4'19 Q4'20 Q4'21 Q4'22 Q4'23 Q4'24 Q3'25 Construction - 1-4 Family Residential $ 60,780 $ 68,503 $ 90,861 $ 109,629 $ 117,128 $ 105,098 $ 103,568 Other Const, Development, Vacant Land & Lots 183,401 334,562 457,667 612,445 552,670 565,404 535,339 Tota
Slide 32: Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES Core Net Income, ROAA, NIM excluding loan discount accretion For the Year Ended December 31, Fiscal Quarter 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Q3'24 Q4'24 Q1'25 Q2'25 Q3'25 Core Net Income: Net Income $ 29,994 $ 52,136 $ 52,905 $ 65,642 $ 59,706 $ 16,492 $ 15,138
Slide 33: Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES Core Net Income and ROAA - Trailing Twelve Months Fiscal Quarter TTM Q4'24 Q1'25 Q2'25 Q3'25 Q3'25 Core Net Income: Net Income $ 15,138 $ 19,193 $ 20,753 $ 21,505 $ 76,589 (1) Adjustments : (Gain)/Loss Former Bank Premises & Equipment $ - $ (122) $ - $ -
Slide 34: Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES TCE/TA, TBVPS Fiscal Quarter Q3'24 Q4'24 Q1'25 Q2'25 Q3'25 Tangible Common Equity / Tangible Assets: Tangible Common Equity Total Shareholders' Equity $ 699,524 $ 799,466 $ 826,312 $ 848,440 $ 878,440 Preferred Stock (71,930) (71,930) (71,930) (71,930) (
Slide 35: Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES TCE/TA, TBVPS For the Year Ended December 31, 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Tangible Common Equity / Tangible Assets: Tangible Common Equity Total Shareholders' Equity $ 409,963 $ 433,368 $ 580,481 $ 644,259 $ 799,466 Preferred Stock - - (71,930) (71,930) (71
Slide 36: Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES Core Efficiency Ratio Fiscal Quarter Fiscal Year Ended TTM Q3'24 Q4'24 Q1'25 Q2'25 Q3'25 12/31/2023 12/31/2024 Q3'25 Core Efficiency Ratio: Noninterest Expense $ 42,450 $ 49,570 $ 50,578 $ 51,206 $ 48,882 $ 156,702 $ 177,652 $ 200,236 Core Adjustments $
Slide 37: Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES Core Pre-tax, Pre-provision Earnings Fiscal Quarter Q3'24 Q4'24 Q1'25 Q2'25 Q3'25 Core pre-tax, pre-provision earnings: Pre-tax, pre-provision earnings $ 24,438 $ 28,016 $ 28,631 $ 30,251 $ 32,065 Adjustments: (Gain)/Loss Former Bank Premises & Equipment
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Slide 40: Business First Bancshares
b BUSINESS FIRST BANCSHARES
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