Exhibit 99.1

Civista Bancshares, Inc. Announces Record 2019 Earnings

Sandusky, Ohio, February 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/– Civista Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CIVB) (“Civista”) reported net income available to common shareholders of $7.7 million, or $0.47 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2019, compared to $7.4 million, or $0.45 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2018.

For the year ended December 31, 2019, Civista reported net income available to common shareholders of $33.2 million, or $2.01 per diluted share, compared to $13.2 million, or $1.02 per diluted share, in 2018. This represents the highest annual net income and diluted earnings per share in Civista’s history.

“I am very proud of the results that our team put together for 2019 for our customers and our shareholders. In addition to record earnings, we increased loans 9.4%, deposits 6.3% and our overall asset growth was 8.0% all while maintaining very strong asset quality. During the fourth quarter, we opened a full-service branch in Beachwood, Ohio which is on the east-side of Cleveland. We have had a very successful loan production office in the area for a few years. This full-service office will allow us to serve all of the needs of our current and prospective customers in the Cleveland area. Finally, the measure that means a lot to our investors, the total return on our stock, for 2019 was 43%.” said Dennis G. Shaffer, President and CEO of Civista.

Adjusted Earnings

Financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2018 included $782 thousand and $12.7 million respectively, in acquisition and integration expenses, as well as a loss on sale of securities of $413 thousand. Excluding these items, adjusted earnings were $8.1 million, or $0.49 diluted earnings per share, for the fourth quarter of 2018 and $24.7 million, or $1.85 diluted earnings per share, for the year ended December 31, 2018.

A reconciliation of adjusted earnings to net income according to accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”) is provided in the financial tables at the end of this press release.

Results of Operations:

Net interest income increased $477 thousand, or 2.3%, for the fourth quarter of 2019 and $19.0 million, or 28.7%, for the year ended December 31, compared to the same periods of 2018.

Interest income increased $814 thousand, or 3.4%, for the fourth quarter of 2019 and $24.4 million or 33.1% for the year ended December 31. The increase in interest income included accretion income of $619 thousand and $2.5 million for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2019. The accretion included in interest income for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2018 was $806 thousand. Interest income further increased for both periods due to an increase in average earning assets. While year-to-date yields increased, the fourth quarter yields decreased 18 basis points across all asset categories.

Interest expense increased $337 thousand, or 11.4 %, for the fourth quarter of 2019 and $5.4 million, or 71.1%, for the year ended December 31, compared to 2018. The increase in interest expense for both periods is due to an increase in average balances and an increase in the cost of interest-bearing liabilities.

The net interest margin for the fourth quarter of 2019 decreased 20 basis points to 4.18% compared to 4.38% for the same period a year ago. The net interest margin for the year ended 2019 increased 10 basis points to 4.31% compared to 4.21% for 2018.

The 2019 net interest margin included accretion income of 14 basis points and 15 basis points for the fourth quarter and year to date, respectively. The 2018 net interest margin included accretion income of 22 basis points and 6 basis points for the fourth quarter and year to date, respectively.

Mr. Shaffer continued, “The interest rate environment was very interesting in 2019. After a rate increase in December of 2018, we experienced three rate decreases in 2019. With the volatility in rates we experienced, I am pleased with where we have ended 2019.”

Average Balance Analysis

(Unaudited - Dollars in thousands)

* - Average yields are presented on a tax equivalent basis. The tax equivalent effect associated with loans and investments, included in the yields above, was $386 thousand and 350 thousand for the periods ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. See reconciliation of non-GAAP measures at the end of this press release.

** - Average balance includes nonaccrual loans

Average Balance Analysis

(Unaudited - Dollars in thousands)

* - Average yields are presented on a tax equivalent basis. The tax equivalent effect associated with loans and investments, included in the yields above, was $1.52 million and $1.06 million for the periods ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. See reconciliation of non-GAAP measures at the end of this press release.

** - Average balance includes nonaccrual loans

Provision for loan losses was $885 thousand for the fourth-quarter and $1.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, compared to $390 thousand for the fourth quarter and $780 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2018, respectively. The increase in provision for loan losses is due to an increase in loan volume.

Mr. Shaffer continued, “While we had net recoveries for the year, the success we have had in growing loans required us to provide for loan losses even during a period of strong asset quality.”

Noninterest income totaled $5.6 million, an increase of $789 thousand, or 16.3%, for the fourth quarter of 2019 compared to the prior year’s fourth quarter. Noninterest income for the year of 2019 totaled $22.4 million, an increase of $4.3 million, or 23.8%, compared to 2018.

The increases in service charge fee income and ATM/Interchange fees income for both the fourth quarter and year, and bank owned life insurance for the year, are primarily attributable to the Company’s acquisition of UCB during the third quarter of 2018. Bank owned life insurance declined in the fourth quarter of 2019 as a result of lower yield on the portfolio compared to 2018.

The net gain on sale of securities was affected by a loss of $392 thousand in 2018, which was part of a restructuring of securities after the UCB acquisition.

The net gain on sale of loans increased due to strong mortgage activity. During the fourth-quarter of 2019, Civista sold $45.2 million of mortgages compared to $21.4 million in 2018. Year-to-date mortgage loans sold totaled $125.8 million in 2019 compared to $79.5 million in 2018. The decrease in wealth management fees for the fourth quarter is primarily due to a $245 thousand accrual adjustment made in 2018 to adopt the revenue recognition standard.

Noninterest expense totaled $17.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2019, an increase of $737 thousand, or 4.5%, compared to 2018. Noninterest expense for the year of 2019 totaled $66.9 million, an increase of $268 thousand, or 0.4%, compared to 2018.

After adjusting the fourth quarter and year-to-date periods of 2018, which included $172 thousand and $5.2 million of acquisition expenses, compensation expense increased $601 thousand and $7.1 million for the three and twelve-month periods ending December 31, 2019, respectively. The increase is due to an increase in full time equivalent (FTE) employees and annual pay increases. FTE employees increased 75 to 445 FTE compared to the same period of 2018, as a result of the UCB acquisition.

The increase in net occupancy and equipment expense is primarily due to the addition of eight branches from acquisition of UCB as well as the opening of our Beachwood branch at the end of October. The decreases in contracted data processing expenses are primarily due to $260 thousand for fourth quarter and $5.5 million for year-to-date 2018 for data processing conversion expenses of UCB. The decreases in professional services is primarily due to the 2018 three and twelve-month periods include $139 thousand and $1.6 million of legal and consulting expenses related to the UCB acquisition, respectively.

The efficiency ratio was 61.4% for the twelve months ended December 31, 2019 compared to 78.2% for the twelve months ended December 31, 2018. Excluding the merger related expenses, the efficiency ratio would have been 62.9% for the twelve months ended December 31, 2018. See the non-GAAP reconciliation at the end of this document.

Civista’s effective income tax rate for the fourth quarter and year-to-date period ended December 31, 2019 was 11.3% and 14.4%, respectively, compared to 14.0% and 15.3% in 2018.

Balance Sheet

Total assets increased $170.6 million, or 8.0%, from December 31, 2018 to December 31, 2019, primarily due to loan growth.

End of period loan balances

(dollars in thousands)

Loan growth during 2019 totaled $147.0 million, led by increases of $104.1 million in Commercial Real Estate, $20.6 million in Real Estate Construction and $26.0 million in Commercial and Agriculture. Growth has been consistent across the entire footprint, with amplified growth in the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati MSAs.

Mr. Shaffer continued, “We ended 2019 with the largest loan portfolio ever for Civista. The year ended with a tremendous amount of momentum as loan growth in the fourth quarter was $60.3 million, or 14.5%, annualized. In addition, we had a record year in residential mortgage loan production, originating $194.4 million of loans, of which $126.7 million were sold or held for sale.”

Total deposits increased $98.9 million, or 6.3%, from December 31, 2018 to December 31, 2019.

End of period deposit balances

(dollars in thousands)

The increase in noninterest-bearing demand is primarily due to an increase in business deposits of $49.6 million. Interest-bearing demand deposits increased primarily due to an increase in public fund accounts of $23.9 million.

Federal Home Loan Bank advances at December 31, 2019 increased $32.9 million, or 17.0%, to $226.5 million from December 31, 2018 to help fund loan growth.

Total shareholders’ equity increased $31.2 million, or 10.4%, from December 31, 2018 to December 31, 2019. Retained earnings increased $26.7 million. Approximately $9.0 million of preferred stock was converted to 1.2 million shares of common stock during 2019. Approximately $400 thousand of preferred stock was redeemed on December 20, 2019. As of December 31, 2019, all of the preferred shares have been converted to common shares, or were redeemed.

Mr. Shaffer continued, “In October we announced the upcoming redemption of the convertible preferred shares that were issued in 2013. As the shares were heavily in the money, the majority of the holders converted their shares prior to redemption.”

Stock Repurchase Program

During 2019, Civista repurchased 188,200 shares for $3.9 million, which equates to a weighted average price of $20.77 per share. A new share repurchase plan was approved in December 2019, authorizing the repurchase of up to 672,000 shares of outstanding common shares, all of which were available for purchase at December 31, 2019.

Asset Quality

The Company recorded net recoveries of $53 thousand for the twelve months of 2019 compared to net charge-offs of $235 thousand for the same period of 2018.

The allowance for loan losses to loans was 0.86% and 0.88% for 2019 and 2018, respectively. The non-performing assets to assets ratio decreased to 0.39% from 0.46% in 2018. The allowance for loan losses to non-performing loans increased to 161.95% from 137.87% in 2018.

Non-performing assets at December 31, 2019 were $9.1 million, an 8.1% decrease from December 31, 2018.

Conference Call and Webcast

Civista Bancshares, Inc. will also host a conference call to discuss the Company’s financial results for the fourth quarter of 2019 at 1:00 p.m. ET on Friday, February 7, 2020. Interested parties can access the live webcast of the conference call through the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website, www.civb.com. Participants can also listen to the conference call by dialing 855-238-2712 and ask to be joined into the Civista Bancshares, Inc. Fourth Quarter 2019 Earnings call. Please log in or dial in at least 10 minutes prior to the start time to ensure a connection.

An archive of the webcast will be available for one year on the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website (www.civb.com).

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Some of the financial measures included in this press release are not measures of financial performance recognized in accordance with GAAP. These non-GAAP financial measures include “Adjusted Earnings,” and “Adjusted Efficiency Ratio.” The Company believes these non-GAAP financial measures provide both management and investors a more complete understanding of the Company’s profitability. These non-GAAP financial measures are supplemental and are not a substitute for any analysis based on GAAP financial measures. Not all companies use the same calculation of these measures; therefore, this presentation may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures as presented by other companies.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements regarding the financial performance, business prospects, growth and operating strategies of Civista. For these statements, Civista claims the protections of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements in this press release should be considered in conjunction with the other information available about Civista, including the information in the filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements provide current expectations or forecasts of future events and are not guarantees of future performance. The forward-looking statements are based on management’s expectations and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. We have tried, wherever possible, to identify such statements by using words such as “anticipate,” “estimate,” “project,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “will” and similar expressions in connection with any discussion of future operating or financial performance. Although management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially include risk factors relating to the banking industry and the other factors detailed from time to time in Civista’ reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including those described in “Item 1A Risk Factors” of Part I of Civista’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018. Undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Civista does not undertake, and specifically disclaims any obligation, to update any forward-looking statement to reflect the events or circumstances after the date on which the forward-looking statement is made, or reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except to the extent required by law.

Civista Bancshares, Inc. is a $2.3 billion financial holding company headquartered in Sandusky, Ohio. The Company’s banking subsidiary, Civista Bank, operates 37 locations in Northern, Central and Southwestern Ohio, Southeastern Indiana and Northern Kentucky. Civista Bancshares, Inc. may be accessed at www.civb.com. The Company’s common shares are traded on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol “CIVB”.

For additional information, contact:

Dennis G. Shaffer

President and CEO

Civista Bancshares, Inc.

888-645-4121

Civista Bancshares, Inc.

Financial Highlights

(dollars in thousands, except share amounts)

Consolidated Condensed Statement of Operations

Selected Balance Sheet Items

Supplemental Financial Information

(Unaudited - Dollars in thousands except share data)