Exhibit 99.1

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT

Kristine D. Brenner

Director of Investor Relations

(810) 257-2506

kristine.brenner@citizensbanking.com

Citizens Republic Bancorp Reports Fourth Consecutive Quarterly Profit

FLINT, MICHIGAN, April 26, 2012 — Citizens Republic Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq: CRBC) announced net income attributable to common shareholders of $18.9 million or $0.47 per diluted share for the three months ended March 31, 2012, compared to $12.3 million or $0.31 per diluted share for last quarter.

“We are very pleased to report our fourth consecutive quarter of profitability. We continue to successfully execute on our strategies and organically grow our strong capital position,” commented Cathleen Nash, president and chief executive officer.

“With continued positive performance of earnings and credit quality, we expect to fully restore the deferred tax asset next quarter,” added Ms. Nash.

Balance Sheet

The balance sheet grew modestly to $9.6 billion compared to year end as a result of core deposit growth. Core deposits were up $263.6 million or 5% over last quarter, reflecting our focus on generating and growing core deposit relationships. This growth in core deposits was deployed in investment securities. Time deposits at March 31, 2012 decreased $168.2 million or 8% from last quarter as we continue to strategically reduce high cost single service and brokered time deposits. Loan balances were essentially unchanged compared to last quarter as the growth in our C&I portfolio was offset by declines in our CRE, home equity and residential mortgage portfolios.

Capital

Citizens continues to grow capital organically through earnings and maintains a strong capital position.

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Net Interest Income and Margin

Net interest margin was 3.56% in the first quarter of 2012, a slight decrease from last quarter and a slight increase from the first quarter of last year. The decrease from last quarter was due to lower investment securities yields and a reduction in average loan balances, partially offset by declining deposit costs and reductions in high-cost funding. The slight increase from the first quarter of last year was due to declining deposit costs, reducing reliance on high-cost funding, and lower levels of non-performing assets, partially offset by lower investment securities yields.

Net interest income was $76.1 million for the first quarter of 2012, a decrease of $1.9 million from last quarter and a decrease of $2.5 million from the first quarter of last year. The decrease from the fourth quarter was due to the reduction in net interest margin while the decrease from the first quarter of 2011 reflects a reduction in average earning assets.

Credit Quality

Credit quality continues to benefit from the emphasis we have placed on improving the risk characteristics in our portfolios.

Noninterest Income and Expense

Noninterest income was $24.2 million for the first quarter 2012, essentially unchanged from last quarter as gains on loans held for sale offset decreases in mortgage and other loan income and service charges on deposit accounts. Noninterest income increased $1.1 million or 5% over the first quarter of 2011, reflecting gains on loans held for sale, partially offset by a decrease in mortgage and other loan income.

Noninterest expense was $67.1 million for the first quarter of 2012, essentially unchanged from last quarter as gains on ORE and lower credit costs were offset by higher payroll tax expense and increases in benefit costs primarily related to the reinstatement of the employer matching in the 401(k) plan. Noninterest expense decreased $14.6 million or 18% from the first quarter of last year as losses on ORE and credit costs were significantly lower due to the completion of the problem asset resolution initiatives in early 2011. Additionally, FDIC insurance costs decreased as we moved to the small bank pricing model. These decreases were partially offset by higher salaries and incentives costs.

Conference Call

Citizens’ senior management will review the quarter’s results in a conference call at 10:00 a.m. ET on Friday, April 27, 2012. A live audio webcast is available on Citizens’ investor relations page at www.citizensbanking.com or by calling (800) 894-5910 (conference ID: Citizens Republic). To listen to the conference call, please connect approximately 10 minutes prior to the scheduled conference time.

A recording will be available approximately two hours after the completion of the conference call at www.citizensbanking.com, where it will be archived for 90 days.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

In addition to results presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), this release includes non-GAAP financial measures such as tangible equity to tangible assets ratio,

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tangible common equity to tangible assets ratio, Tier 1 common equity ratio, pre-tax pre-provision profit, net interest margin, and the efficiency ratio. Citizens believes these non-GAAP financial measures provide additional information that is useful to investors in understanding the underlying performance of Citizens, its business and performance trends, and such measures help facilitate performance comparisons with others in the banking industry. Non-GAAP financial measures have inherent limitations, are not required to be uniformly applied and are not audited. Readers should be aware of these limitations and should be cautious as to their use of such measures. To mitigate these limitations, Citizens has procedures in place to ensure that these measures are calculated using the appropriate GAAP or regulatory components in their entirety to ensure that Citizens’ performance is properly reflected to facilitate consistent period-to-period comparisons. Although Citizens believes the above non-GAAP financial measures disclosed in this release enhance investors’ understanding of its business and performance, these non-GAAP measures should not be considered in isolation, or as a substitute for GAAP basis financial measures. See our related Form 8-K for further discussion regarding these non-GAAP financial measures.

Corporate Profile

Citizens Republic Bancorp, Inc. is a diversified financial services company providing a wide range of commercial, consumer, mortgage banking, trust and financial planning services to a broad client base. Citizens serves communities in Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin with 219 offices and 248 ATMs. Citizens is the largest bank holding company headquartered in Michigan with roots dating back to 1871 and is the 57^th largest bank holding company headquartered in the United States. More information about Citizens is available at www.citizensbanking.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

Discussions and statements in this release that are not statements of historical fact, including without limitation, statements that include terms such as “will,” “may,” “should,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “project,” “intend,” and “plan,” and statements regarding Citizens’ future financial and operating results, plans, objectives, expectations and intentions, are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Citizens’ control or are subject to change. No forward-looking statement is a guarantee of future performance and actual results could differ materially.

Factors that could cause or contribute to actual results differing materially from Citizens’ expectations include the risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in Citizens’ annual and quarterly filings with the SEC, which are available at the SEC’s web site www.sec.gov. Other factors not currently anticipated may also materially and adversely affect Citizens’ results of operations, cash flows, financial position and prospects. There can be no assurance that future results will meet expectations. While Citizens believes that the forward-looking statements in this release are reasonable, you should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statement. In addition, these statements speak only as of the date made. Citizens does not undertake, and expressly disclaims, any obligation to update or alter any statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

Reverse Stock-Split Adjustment

All prior year shares outstanding and per share calculations have been adjusted to reflect the 1-for-10 reverse stock split that became effective July 1, 2011.

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Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited)

Citizens Republic Bancorp, Inc.

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Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited)

Citizens Republic Bancorp, Inc.

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Selected Quarterly Information (Unaudited)

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