Exhibit 99.1

Republic Bancorp, Inc. Reports 21% Year-Over-Year Increase in Second Quarter Net Income

LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 21, 2017--Republic Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: RBCAA), headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, is the holding company of Republic Bank & Trust Company (the “Bank”).

Republic Bancorp, Inc. (“Republic” or the “Company”) is pleased to report second quarter net income of $10.1 million, a 21% increase over the second quarter of 2016, resulting in Diluted Earnings per Class A Common Share of $0.48. Year-to-date net income was $30.1 million, a $4.0 million, or 15%, increase from the same period in 2016, resulting in return on average assets (“ROA”) and return on average equity (“ROE”) of 1.26% and 9.72% for the first six months of 2017.

Steve Trager, “I am very excited to see continued quarter-over-same-quarter-last-year growth in our net income. We have been able to achieve this growth in net income despite an increase in run costs of overhead expenses associated with additional staffing and infrastructure investments made during the previous 12 months, as we continue with the implementation of several strategic initiatives. Offsetting our higher overhead expenses and contributing to our strong net income for the quarter was solid growth in net interest income from both our Core Bank⁽¹⁾ and our Republic Processing Group (“RPG”) operations.

“Along with our positive earnings growth, we continue to execute on portions of our strategic plan to enhance our overall balance sheet structure. Our core deposits⁽⁹⁾ grew nicely during the first six months of 2017, with core noninterest-bearing deposits growing $62 million, or 7%, and core interest-bearing deposits growing $72 million, or 4%. Contributing to the increase in core interest-bearing deposits during the first six months of 2017 was $54 million in growth from MemoryBank, our separately-branded online digital banking platform. The strength in our core deposit growth further allowed us to reduce our wholesale brokered-deposit balances, which have a propensity to be a more expensive long-term funding source. On the asset side of the ledger, we continue to reduce our reliance on residential real estate loans for balance sheet growth. Our Traditional Bank loan portfolio increased $87 million during the first six months of 2017 thanks to strong growth in commercial real estate, as well as, construction and development loans.”

The following table highlights Republic’s financial performance for the second quarters and six months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016:

Results of Operations for the Second Quarter of 2017 Compared to the Second Quarter of 2016

Core Bank⁽¹⁾ – Net income from Core Banking was $7.8 million for the second quarter of 2017, an increase of $933,000, or 13%, over the second quarter of 2016.

The increase in net income at the Core Bank was primarily driven by strong growth in net interest income during the quarter, as net interest income at the Core Bank increased $4.6 million, or 14%, over the second quarter of 2016. The increase in net interest income was enhanced by an 18-basis-point rise in the Core Bank’s net interest margin for the second quarter of 2017 to 3.46%. The increase in the Core Bank’s net interest margin was further complemented by a $225 million, or 6%, increase in the Core Bank’s quarterly average loans from the second quarter of 2016 to the second quarter of 2017.

In addition to the benefits to interest income resulting from strong growth within the loan portfolio, the Core Bank was also able to hold its level of interest expense relatively flat with its second quarter 2016 interest expense, despite three increases of the Federal Funds Target Rate by the Federal Reserve since December 2016. The Core Bank was able to maintain its level of interest expense primarily by decreasing its reliance on term FHLB advances by $115 million over the previous 12 months, replacing such funds with either overnight advances or lower costing core deposits.

The overall change in the Core Bank’s net interest income, as well as average and period-end loan balances by origination channel, are presented below:

The following factors were the primary drivers of the changes in the Core Bank’s average loan balances and net interest income by origination channel for the second quarter of 2017, as compared to the second quarter of 2016:

• The Core Bank’s Traditional Network experienced average loan growth over the previous 12 months of $258 million. The overall mix of this growth was well diversified, with average balance increases of $124 million in commercial real estate; $72 million in construction and development; $29 million in home equity lines of credit (“HELOCs”); and $38 million in commercial and industrial. Approximately $92 million of the increase in Traditional Network average loans resulted from the loans acquired in the Company’s May 2016 acquisition of Cornerstone Bancorp, Inc. The Cornerstone acquisition contributed an average balance of $95 million to the second quarter of 2016 because of its mid-quarter acquisition, while contributing $187 million to the average loans for the second quarter of 2017.
• Within the Warehouse segment, net interest income grew 17% from the second quarter of 2016. Driving the growth in net interest income was a $76 million, or 18%, increase in average outstanding Warehouse balances for the second quarter of 2017. The Core Bank increased its committed Warehouse lines of credit from $800 million at June 30, 2016 to $1.1 billion at June 30, 2017, with usage rates of those lines at 57% and 48%, respectively, during the periods. In addition to the strong balance sheet growth for the portfolio, the yield for Warehouse lines of credit was 4.49% during the second quarter of 2017, an increase of 44 basis points from the same period in 2016.

The Core Bank’s provision expense for the second quarters of 2017 and 2016 primarily represented general loss reserves driven by growth in the loan portfolio during the two periods. The Core Bank’s credit quality metrics remained favorable, as indicated by the table below:

Noninterest income for the Core Bank was $8.5 million during the second quarter of 2017, a 7% increase over the $8.0 million achieved during the second quarter of 2016. Notable category changes impacting the Core Bank’s noninterest income comparisons between the second quarters of 2017 and 2016 were as follows:

• Interchange income increased $249,000, or 11%, due to a 12% increase in the number of active debit cards and an 8% increase in the number of transactions experienced by the Company for those cards.
• Net gains/(losses) on sales of other real estate owned (“OREO”) improved $169,000. As of June 30, 2017, the Core Bank maintained just two pieces of OREO with a total book value of $300,000.
• Service charges on deposits increased $108,000, or 3%, driven by a 7% increase in the Core Bank’s transaction account base from period to period.

• Mortgage banking income decreased $115,000 from the second quarter of 2016, as secondary market originations decreased consistent with a decrease in consumer refinance activity.

Core Bank noninterest expenses increased $3.4 million, or 11%, during the second quarter of 2017 compared to the second quarter of 2016. The increase was primarily driven by the following:

• Salaries and employee benefits expense increased $1.9 million, or 12%, as the Core Bank’s full-time-equivalent employees increased by 86 employees over the previous 12 months to support the previously mentioned Core Bank’s strategic initiatives.
• Occupancy expense increased $775,000, or 16%, primarily driven by increases in rent expense and depreciation expense resulting from new locations, existing banking center renovations and the cost of technology to support the Core Bank’s strategic initiatives.

Republic Processing Group (“RPG”)

The RPG segment reported net income of $2.2 million for the second quarter of 2017 compared to $1.4 million for the same period in 2016.

The higher second quarter 2017 net income was primarily driven by an $861,000 increase in net refund transfer (“RT”) revenues at the Tax Refund Solutions (“TRS”) division of RPG, as the second quarter of 2017 generated a higher percentage of the Company’s year-to-date RT production as compared to the same period in 2016. The small shift in RT production between the first and second quarters of 2017 was primarily due to delays in certain taxpayer refunds from the U.S. Treasury due to additional fraud prevention measures taken by the Federal government.

Within the Republic Credit Solutions (“RCS”) division of RPG, net income increased to $1.1 million for the second quarter of 2017 compared to $899,000 for the same period in 2016, with increases in net interest income and noninterest income of $3.0 million and $764,000, respectively, primarily offsetting an increase of $3.2 million increase in provisions for loan losses, as RCS continues to provide prudently for its steadily-growing consumer credit portfolios.

Conclusion

“I am very proud of our solid first half of 2017. In addition to our notable top-line revenue growth for the first half of the year, we have made healthy progress with many of our near-term and long-term initiatives. As we turn our focus to the second half of 2017, we look forward to the completion of several of our near-term strategic projects.

“In regards to the mergers and acquisitions (“M&A”) market, we continue to be alert for opportunities that fit within our strategic plan and are also priced appropriately to maximize shareholder value. As the M&A market continues to heat up, however, we believe that finding an accretive opportunity is becoming less and less likely in the near term. While we will remain steadfast in our search for a strategic acquisition candidate, our primary focus for the second half of 2017 will be organic growth through our existing sales infrastructure. In addition, we have made meaningful investments in our outer markets over the past 18 months, and we look forward to those investments bearing fruit in the months and the years ahead,” concluded Steve Trager.

Republic Bancorp, Inc. (the “Company”) is the parent company of Republic Bank & Trust Company (the “Bank”). The Bank currently has 45 full-service banking centers and one loan production office throughout five states: 33 banking centers in 12 Kentucky communities - Covington, Crestwood, Elizabethtown, Florence, Frankfort, Georgetown, Independence, Lexington, Louisville, Owensboro, Shelbyville and Shepherdsville; three banking centers in southern Indiana – Floyds Knobs, Jeffersonville and New Albany; six banking centers in five Florida communities (Tampa MSA) – Largo, Port Richey, St. Petersburg, Seminole, and Temple Terrace; two banking centers in Tennessee – Cool Springs (Franklin) and Green Hills (Nashville) and one loan production office in Brentwood (Nashville); and one banking center in Norwood (Cincinnati), Ohio. The Bank offers internet banking at www.republicbank.com. The Bank also offers separately-branded, nation-wide digital banking at www.mymemorybank.com. The Company has $5.0 billion in assets and is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. The Company’s Class A Common Stock is listed under the symbol “RBCAA” on the NASDAQ Global Select Market.

Republic Bank. It’s just easier here. ^®

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements in the preceding paragraphs are based on our current expectations and assumptions regarding our business, the future impact to our balance sheet and income statement resulting from changes in interest rates, the ability to develop products and strategies in order to meet the Company’s long-term strategic goals, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. Our actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by forward-looking statements. We caution you therefore against relying on any of these forward-looking statements. They are neither statements of historical fact nor guarantees or assurances of future performance. Actual results could differ materially based upon factors disclosed from time to time in the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including those factors set forth as “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2016. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to release revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or conditions after the date of this release.