Hammond, Louisiana, October 31, 2016 – First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. (the "Company" or "First Guaranty") (NASDAQ: FGBI), the holding company for First Guaranty Bank, announced its unaudited financial results for the quarter ending September 30, 2016.

Just as the strength and diversity, both geographically and by industry, of the assets of First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc., gave First Guaranty the ability to continue to progress steadily through the turmoil of the oil price crash, the same factors have given First Guaranty the ability to continue through the great flood of August 2016 toward the goal of a fortress balance sheet.  As of September 30, 2016, loans totaled $910.7 million, compared to $856.7 million as of September 30, 2015.  The loan portfolio actually peaked at a total of $920.1 million in September prior to pay downs in our syndicated loan portfolio.  By the same token, our securities portfolio decreased to $475.1 million as we successfully continue our strategy of moving assets from lower yielding securities to higher yielding loans.  This strategy translated to income as the total interest income for the third quarter of 2016 was $14.7 million, an approximately $0.8 million increase over the third quarter of 2015.

For the year to date through September 30, 2016 total interest income was $43.8 million compared to $42.0 million as of September 30, 2015.  Due to the redemption of the SBLF Preferred Stock through the use of senior debt and subordinated debt, total interest expense for the year to date increased approximately $1.1 million over the same period of 2015.  Non-interest expense increased by approximately $1.3 million year to date in part due to expenses related to the great flood and in part due to increased employee benefit expense.

Bottom line, after oil and high water, income available to common shareholders as of September 30, 2016 totaled $10.9 million, up approximately $0.1 million from the nine months ended September 30, 2015.

Another positive indicator of increased earning capacity was the net interest margin for the quarter ended September 30, 2016 was 3.41% and for the nine months year to date 3.38% compared to 3.28% for the quarter ended September 30, 2015 and 3.21% for the nine months ended September 30, 2015.

Total Shareholders' equity was $129.1 million as of September 30, 2016 up from $118.2 million as of December 31, 2015.  In December 2015, First Guaranty issued a 10% stock dividend which resulted in a dilution of $1.56 per share.  As of September 30, 2016, First Guaranty had earned back $0.96 or 61% of that dilution.  If earnings continue as projected, the projected earn back date of the stock dividend dilution is February 28, 2017, fourteen months from issuance.

For the 93^rd consecutive quarter First Guaranty paid a quarterly dividend.  The dividend for the third quarter of 2016 was $0.16 per share.  Since 1993, First Guaranty has paid a total of $60.5 million in common dividends to shareholders.

The loans to deposits ratio improved to 72.5% as of September 30, 2016 up from 70.0% as of June 30, 2016 and 67.3% as of September 30, 2015.  Once again, in accord with our business plan, First Guaranty sold additional securities to fund the loan growth.

As of September 30, 2016, nonperforming assets had decreased to $22.6 million compared to $25.0 million as of June 30, 2016 and $26.0 million as of March 31, 2016.

Alton B. Lewis, President and CEO commented:  "Through the first three quarters of 2016, First Guaranty has continued to make progress in the face of adverse conditions.  Everyone in the organization is working together toward our common goals to maximize shareholder value.  These efforts benefit our shareholders, our employees, our customers, and our communities."

About First Guaranty

First Guaranty, a Louisiana-based company, has approximately $1.4 billion in assets as of September 30, 2016 and provides personalized commercial banking services through 21 banking facilities located across Louisiana.  For more information, visit www.fgb.net.

Certain statements contained herein are "forward looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward looking statements may be identified by reference to a future period or periods, or by the use of forward looking terminology, such as "may," "will," "believe," "expect," "estimate," "anticipate," "continue," or similar terms or variations on those terms, or the negative of those terms. Forward looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, as described in our SEC filings, including, but not limited to, those related to the real estate and economic environment, particularly in the market areas in which the Company operates, competitive products and pricing, fiscal and monetary policies of the U.S. Government, changes in government regulations affecting financial institutions, including regulatory fees and capital requirements, changes in prevailing interest rates, acquisitions and the integration of acquired businesses, credit risk management, asset-liability management, the financial and securities markets and the availability of and costs associated with sources of liquidity.

The Company wishes to caution readers not to place undue reliance on any such forward looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The Company wishes to advise readers that the factors listed above could affect the Company's financial performance and could cause the Company's actual results for future periods to differ materially from any opinions or statements expressed with respect to future periods in any current statements. The Company does not undertake and specifically declines any obligation to publicly release the results of any revisions, which may be made to any forward looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events.