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Item 1A. Risk Factors.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and in other statements that we make from time to time in filings by the Company with the SEC, in press releases, and in oral and written statements made by or with the approval of the Company which are not statements of historical fact constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Examples of forward-looking statements include: (a) projections of income or expense, earnings per share, the payment or non-payment of dividends, capital structure and other financial items; (b) statements of plans and objectives of the Company or our Board of Directors or management, including those relating to products and services; (c) statements of future economic performance; (d) statements of future customer attraction or retention; and (d) statements of assumptions underlying these statements. Forward-looking statements reflect our expectations, estimates or projections concerning future results or events. These statements are generally identified by the use of forward-looking words or phrases such as “anticipates”, “believes”, “estimates”, “expects”, “intends”, “may”, “plans”, “projects”, “should”, “will allow”, “will continue”, “will likely result”, “will remain”, “would be”, or similar expressions.

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a “safe harbor” for forward-looking statements to encourage companies to provide prospective information so long as those statements are identified as forward-looking and are accompanied by meaningful cautionary statements identifying important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. We desire to take advantage of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Act.

Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those predicted by the forward-looking statements because of various factors and possible events, including those factors discussed in the Risk Factors below. There is also the risk that the Company’s management or Board of Directors incorrectly analyzes these risks and forces, or that the strategies the Company develops to address them are unsuccessful.

Forward-looking statements speak only as of that date on which they are made. Except as may be required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which the statement is made. All forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or any person acting on our behalf are qualified in their entirety by the following cautionary statements.

Economic, Market and Political Risks:

The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic or any other pandemic could adversely affect our business, financial condition, liquidity, and results of operations.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted global, national and local economies, disrupted global and national supply chains, lowered equity market valuations, and created significant volatility and disruption in financial markets. In addition, the pandemic resulted in temporary closures of many businesses and the institution of social distancing and sheltering in place requirements in many states and communities and may result in the same or similar restrictions in the future. As a result, the demand for the Company’s products and services has been and may continue to be significantly impacted, which could adversely affect our revenue and results of operations. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic could result in the recognition of credit losses in our loan portfolios and increases in our allowance for credit losses, particularly if businesses remain required to operate at diminished capacities or are required to close again, the impact on the global, national and local economies worsen, or more customers draw on their lines of credit or seek additional loans to help finance their businesses. Our business operations may also be disrupted if significant portions of our workforce are unable to work effectively, including because of illness, quarantines, government actions, or other restrictions in connection with COVID-19. The extent to which COVID-19 impacts the our business, results of operations, and financial condition, as well as our regulatory capital and liquidity ratios, will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including the scope and duration of the pandemic and actions taken by governmental authorities and other third parties in response to the pandemic.

We originated a significant number of PPP loans in 2020 and 2021 and, as of December 31, 2021, we continued to hold and service a limited number of PPP loans. These PPP loans are subject to the provisions of the CARES Act and to complex and evolving rules and guidance issued by the SBA and other government agencies. A great majority of our PPP borrowers have sought and obtained, or are expected to seek full or partial forgiveness of their loan obligations. We have credit risk on the PPP loans if the SBA determines that there is a deficiency in the manner in which we originated, funded or serviced loans, including any issue with the eligibility of a borrower to receive a PPP loan. We could face additional risks in our administrative capabilities to service our PPP loans, and risk with respect to the determination of loan forgiveness. In the event of a loss resulting from a default on a PPP loan and a determination by the SBA that there was a deficiency in the manner in which we originated, funded or serviced the PPP loan, the SBA may deny its liability under the guaranty, reduce the amount of the guaranty or, if the SBA has already paid under the guaranty, seek recovery of any loss related to the deficiency.

The spread of COVID-19, including new variants thereof, has also caused us to modify our business practices, including employee travel, employee work locations, and cancellation of physical participation in meetings, events and conferences. Further, technology in employees’ homes may not be as robust as in our offices and could cause the networks, information systems, applications, and other tools available to such employees to be more limited or less reliable. The continuation of these work-from-home measures also introduces additional operational risk, including increased cybersecurity risk from phishing, malware, and other cybersecurity attacks, all of which could expose us to risks of data or financial loss and could seriously disrupt our operations and the operations of any impacted customers.

COVID-19, including the spread of new variants thereof, or a new pandemic could subject us to any of the following risks, any of which could, individually or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, liquidity, and results of operations:

Moreover, our future success and profitability substantially depend on the management skills of our executive officers and directors, many of whom have held officer and director positions with us for many years. The unanticipated loss or unavailability of key employees due to COVID-19, including new variants thereof, or any similar pandemic could harm our ability to operate our business or execute our business strategy. We may not be successful in finding and integrating suitable successors in the event of key employee loss or unavailability.

Even after the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, the U.S. economy will likely require time to recover, the length of which is unknown and during which the United States may experience a recession or market correction. Our business could be materially and adversely affected by such recession or market correction.

We continue to closely monitor the impact of COVID-19 and related risks as they evolve. To the extent the effects of COVID-19 adversely impact our business, financial condition, liquidity or results of operations, it may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this section.

Changes in economic and political conditions could adversely affect our earnings through declines in deposits, loan demand, the ability of our customers to repay loans and the value of collateral securing our loans.

Our success depends to a large extent upon local and national economic conditions, as well as governmental fiscal and monetary policies. Conditions such as inflation, recession, unemployment, changes in interest rates, fiscal and monetary policy, an increasing federal government budget deficit, slowing gross domestic product, tariffs, a U.S. withdrawal from or significant renegotiation of trade agreements, trade wars, and other factors beyond our control may adversely affect our deposit levels and composition, the quality of investment securities available for purchase, demand for loans, the ability of our borrowers to repay their loans, and the value of the collateral securing loans made by us. Disruptions in U.S. and global financial markets, and changes in oil production in the Middle East also affect the economy and stock prices in the U.S., which can affect our earnings capital, as well as the ability of our customers to repay loans. Because we have a significant amount of real estate loans, decreases in real estate values could adversely affect the value of property used as collateral and our ability to sell the collateral upon foreclosure. Adverse changes in the economy may also have a negative effect on the ability of our borrowers to make timely repayments of their loans, which would have an adverse impact on our earnings and cash flows. In addition, our lending and deposit gathering activities are concentrated primarily in Northwest Ohio. As a result, our success depends in large part on the general economic conditions of these areas, particularly given that a significant portion of our lending relates to real estate located in this region. Therefore, adverse changes in the economic conditions in these areas, including those resulting from COVID-19, could adversely impact our earnings and cash flows.

We may be unable to manage interest rate risks, which could reduce our net interest income.

Our results of operations are affected principally by net interest income, which is the difference between interest earned on loans and investments and interest expense paid on deposits and other borrowings. The spread between the yield on our interest-earning assets and our overall cost of funds may be compressed, and our net interest income may continue to be adversely impacted by changing rates. We cannot predict or control changes in interest rates. National, regional and local economic conditions and the policies of regulatory authorities, including monetary policies of the FRB, affect the movement of interest rates and our interest income and interest expense. If the interest rates paid on deposits and other borrowed funds increase at a faster rate than the interest rates received on loans and other investments, our net interest income, and therefore earnings, could be adversely affected. Earnings could also be adversely affected if the interest paid for deposits rises more quickly than the interest received on loans and other investments.

In addition, certain assets and liabilities may react in different degrees to changes in market interest rates. For example, interest rates on some types of assets and liabilities may fluctuate prior to changes in broader market interest rates, while interest rates on other types may lag behind. While the bulk of our variable rate commercial assets have interest rate floors, some of our assets, such as adjustable rate mortgages, have features that restrict changes in their interest rates, including rate caps.

Interest rates are highly sensitive to many factors that are beyond our control. Some of these factors include: inflation, recession, unemployment, money supply, international disorders, and instability in domestic and foreign financial markets. Changes in interest rates may affect the level of voluntary prepayments on our loans and may also affect the level of financing or refinancing by customers. We believe that the impact on our cost of funds will depend on a number of factors, including but not limited to, the competitive environment in the banking sector for deposit pricing, opportunities for clients to invest in other markets such as fixed income and equity markets, and the propensity of customers to invest in their businesses. The effect on our net interest income from a change in interest rates will ultimately depend on the extent to which the aggregate impact of loan re-pricings exceeds the impact of increases in our cost of funds.

A transition away from London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) as a reference rate for financial contracts could negatively affect our income and expenses and the value of various financial contracts.

LIBOR is used extensively in the U.S. and globally as a benchmark for various commercial and financial contracts, including adjustable rate mortgages, corporate debt, interest rate swaps and other derivatives. LIBOR is set based on interest rate information reported by certain banks, which may stop reporting such information after 2021. On July 27, 2017, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”) announced that it intends to stop persuading or compelling banks to submit LIBOR rates after 2021. On November 30, 2020, to facilitate an orderly LIBOR transition, the OCC, the FDIC, and the FRB jointly announced that entering into new contracts using LIBOR as a reference rate after December 31, 2021, would create a safety and soundness risk. On March 5, 2021, the FCA announced that all LIBOR settings will either cease to be provided by any administrator or no longer be representative immediately after December 31, 2021, in the case of 1-week and 2-month LIBOR, and immediately after June 30, 2023, in the case of the remaining LIBOR settings. In the U.S., efforts to identify a set of alternative U.S. dollar reference interest rates are ongoing, and the Alternative Reference Rate Committee (the “ARRC”) has recommended the use of a Secured Overnight Funding Rate (“SOFR”). SOFR is different from LIBOR in that it is a backward looking secured rate rather than a forward looking unsecured rate.

These differences could lead to a greater disconnect between our costs to raise funds for SOFR as compared to LIBOR. For cash products and loans, ARRC has also recommended Term SOFR, which is a forward looking SOFR based on SOFR futures and may in part reduce differences between SOFR and LIBOR. There are operational issues which may create a delay in the transition to SOFR or other substitute indices, leading to uncertainty across the industry. These consequences cannot be entirely predicted and could have an adverse impact on the market value for or value of LIBOR-linked securities, loans, and other financial obligations or extensions of credit.

The Company’s primary exposure to LIBOR relates to its promissory notes with borrowers, swap contracts with clients, offsetting swap contracts with third parties related to the swap contracts with clients, and the Company’s LIBOR-based borrowings (if any). The Company’s contracts generally include a LIBOR term (for example, one month, three month, or one year) plus an incremental margin rate. The Company is working through this transition via a multi-disciplinary project team.

The Company has $10.3 million in Trust Preferred

Securities that were originated in 2005. These securities are part of a large pool issued to Community Banks and have interest tied to

LIBOR (see Note 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements). The issuers of the Trust Preferred Securities have not yet determined a

replacement for the LIBOR-based interest rate.

We do not believe the change to a benchmark like SOFR will have a material impact on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

Risks Related to Our Business Operations:

If our actual loan losses exceed our allowance for loan losses, our net income will decrease.

Our loan customers may not repay their loans according to their terms, and the collateral securing the payment of these loans may be insufficient to pay any remaining loan balance. We may experience significant loan losses, which could have a material adverse effect on our operating results. In accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, we maintain an allowance for loan losses to provide for loan defaults and non-performance, which when combined, we refer to as the allowance for loan losses. Our allowance for loan losses may not be adequate to cover actual credit losses, and future provisions for credit losses could have a material adverse effect on our operating results. Our allowance for loan losses is based on prior experience, as well as an evaluation of the risks in the current portfolio. The amount of future losses is susceptible to changes in economic, operating and other conditions, including changes in interest rates that may be beyond our control, and these losses may exceed current estimates. Federal regulatory agencies, as an integral part of their examination process, review our loans and allowance for loan losses. We cannot guarantee that we will not further increase the allowance for loan losses or that regulators will not require us to increase this allowance. Either of these occurrences could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Moreover, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”) has changed its requirements for establishing the allowance for loan losses.

On June 16, 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standard Update (“ASU”) 2016-13 “Financial Instruments - Credit Losses”, which replaces the incurred loss model with an expected loss model, and is referred to as the CECL model. Under the incurred loss model, loans are recognized as impaired when there is no longer an assumption that future cash flows will be collected in full under the originally contracted terms. The new accounting guidance is effective for annual reporting periods and interim reporting periods within those annual periods, beginning after December 15, 2019. However, the FASB has deferred the effective date for this ASU for smaller reporting companies, such as the Company, to annual reporting periods and interim reporting periods within those annual periods, beginning after December 15, 2022. Under the CECL model, financial institutions will be required to use historical information, current conditions and reasonable forecasts to estimate the expected loss over the life of the loan. The transition to the CECL model will bring with it significantly greater data requirements and changes to methodologies to accurately account for expected losses under the new parameters. If the methodologies and assumptions that we use in the CECL model are proven to be incorrect or inadequate, the allowance for credit losses may not be sufficient, resulting in the need for additional allowance for credit losses to be established, which could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations.

We may further experience increased delinquencies, credit losses, and corresponding charges to capital, which could require us to increase our provision for loan losses associated with impacts related to the coronavirus outbreak due to quarantines, market downturns, increased unemployment rates, changes in consumer behavior related to pandemic fears, and related emergency response legislation. We cannot predict the full impact of the coronavirus outbreak or any other future global pandemic on our business, but we may experience increased delinquencies and credit losses as a result of the outbreak. Further, if real estate markets or the economy in general deteriorate (due to the coronavirus outbreak or otherwise), State Bank may experience increased delinquencies and credit losses. The allowance for loan losses may not be sufficient to cover actual loan-related losses. Additionally, banking regulators may require State Bank to increase its allowance for loan losses in the future, which could have a negative effect on the Company’s financial condition and results of operations. Additions to the allowance for loan losses will result in a decrease in net earnings and capital and could hinder our ability to grow our assets.

Any significant increase in our allowance for loan losses or loan charge offs, including increases required by applicable regulatory authorities, might have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial condition and results of operations.

Our success depends upon our ability to attract and retain key personnel.

Our success depends upon the continued service of our senior management team and upon our ability to attract and retain qualified financial services personnel. Competition for qualified employees is intense. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to retain our existing key personnel or attract additional qualified personnel. If we lose the services of our key personnel, or are unable to attract additional qualified personnel, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

We depend upon the accuracy and completeness of information about customers.

In deciding whether to extend credit or enter into other transactions with customers, we may rely on information provided to us by customers, including financial statements and other financial information. We may also rely on representations of customers as to the accuracy and completeness of that information and, with respect to financial statements, on reports of independent auditors. For example, in deciding whether to extend credit to a business, we may assume that the customer’s audited financial statements conform to generally accepted accounting principles and present fairly, in all material respects, the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the customer, and we may also rely on the audit report covering those financial statements. Our financial condition and results of operations could be negatively impacted to the extent we rely on financial statements that do not comply with generally accepted accounting principles or that are materially misleading.

We may not be able to grow, and if we do, we may have difficulty managing that growth.

Our business strategy is to continue to grow our assets and expand our operations, including through potential strategic acquisitions. Our ability to grow depends, in part, upon our ability to expand our market share, successfully attract core deposits, and to identify loan and investment opportunities as well as opportunities to generate fee-based income. We can provide no assurance that we will be successful in increasing the volume of our loans and deposits at acceptable levels and upon terms acceptable to us. We also can provide no assurance that we will be successful in expanding our operations organically or through strategic acquisitions while managing the costs and implementation risks associated with this growth strategy.

We expect to continue to experience growth in the number of our employees and customers and the scope of our operations, but we may not be able to sustain our historical rate of growth or continue to grow our business at all. Our success will depend upon the ability of our officers and key employees to continue to implement and improve our operational and other systems, to manage multiple, concurrent customer relationships, and to hire, train and manage our employees. In the event that we are unable to perform all these tasks and meet these challenges effectively, including continuing to attract core deposits, our operations, and consequently our earnings, could be adversely impacted.

Future acquisitions or other expansion may adversely impact our financial condition and results of operations.

In the future, we may acquire other financial institutions or branches or assets of other financial institutions. We may also open new branches, enter into new lines of business, or offer new products or services. Any such acquisition or expansion of our business will involve a number of expenses and risks, which may include some or all of the following:

● any financing required in connection with an acquisition or expansion;

● the risk of loss of key employees and customers.

We may incur substantial costs to expand, and we can give no assurance that such expansion will result in the levels of profits we expect. Neither can we assure that integration efforts for any future acquisitions will be successful. We may issue equity securities in connection with acquisitions, which could dilute the economic and voting interests of our existing shareholders.

We are exposed to a number of operational risks.

We are exposed to many types of operational risk, including reputational risk, legal and compliance risk, the risk of fraud or theft by employees or outsiders, unauthorized transactions by employees or operational errors, including clerical or record-keeping errors or those resulting from faulty or disabled computer or telecommunications systems. Many of these risks are heightened in light of COVID-19.

Given the volume of transactions we process, certain errors may be repeated or compounded before they are discovered and successfully rectified. Our necessary dependence upon automated systems to record and process our transaction volume may further increase the risk that technical system flaws or employee tampering or manipulation of those systems will result in losses that are difficult to detect. We may also be subject to disruptions of our operating systems arising from events that are wholly or partially beyond our control (for example, computer viruses or electrical or telecommunications outages), which may give rise to disruption of service to customers and to financial loss or liability. We are further exposed to the risk that our external vendors may be unable to fulfill their contractual obligations (or will be subject to the same risk of fraud or operational errors by their respective employees as we are) and to the risk that our (or our vendors’) consumer compliance, business continuity and data security systems prove to be inadequate.

Negative public opinion can result from our actual or alleged conduct in any number of activities, including lending practices, corporate governance and acquisitions, social media and other marketing activities, the implementation of environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices, and from actions taken by governmental regulators and community organizations in response to any of the foregoing activities. Negative public opinion could adversely affect our ability to attract and keep customers, could expose us to potential litigation and regulatory action, and could have a material adverse effect on the price of our common shares or result in heightened volatility of our stock price.

Our information systems may experience an interruption or security breach.

We rely heavily on communications and information systems to conduct our business. Any failure, interruption or breach in security of these systems could result in failures or disruptions in our customer relationship management, general ledger, deposit, loan and other systems. While we have policies and procedures designed to prevent or limit the effect of the possible failure, interruption or security breach of our information systems, there can be no assurance that any such failure, interruption or security breach will not occur or, if they do occur, that they will be adequately addressed. The occurrence of any failure, interruption or security breach of our information systems could damage our reputation, result in a loss of customer business, subject us to additional regulatory scrutiny, or expose us to civil litigation and possible financial liability.

Unauthorized disclosure of sensitive or confidential client information, or breaches in security of our systems, could severely harm our business.

We collect, process and store sensitive consumer data by utilizing computer systems and telecommunications networks operated by both third-party service providers and us. State Bank’s necessary dependence upon automated systems to record and process State Bank’s transactions poses the risk that technical system flaws, employee errors, tampering or manipulation of those systems, or attacks by third parties will result in losses and may be difficult to detect. We have security and backup and recovery systems in place, as well as a business continuity plan, to ensure the computer systems will not be inoperable, to the extent possible. We also routinely review documentation of such controls and backups related to third party service providers. Our inability to use or access these information systems at critical points in time could unfavorably impact the timeliness and efficiency of our business operations. In recent years, some banks have experienced denial of service attacks in which individuals or organizations flood the bank’s website with extraordinarily high volumes of traffic, with the goal and effect of disrupting the ability of the bank to process transactions. Other businesses have been victims of ransomware attacks in which the business becomes unable to access its own information and is presented with a demand to pay a ransom in order to once again have access to its information.

We could be adversely affected if one of our employees or a third-party service provider causes a significant operational breakdown or failure, either as a result of human error or where an individual purposefully sabotages or fraudulently manipulates our operations or systems. State Bank is further exposed to the risk that the third-party service providers may be unable to fulfill their contractual obligations (or will be subject to the same risks as we are). These disruptions may interfere with service to our customers, cause additional regulatory scrutiny and result in a financial loss or liability. We are also at risk of the impact of natural disasters, terrorism and international hostilities on our systems or for the effects of outages or other failures involving power or communications systems operated by others.

Misconduct by employees could include fraudulent, improper or unauthorized activities on behalf of clients or improper use of confidential information. We may not be able to prevent employee errors or misconduct, and the precautions we take to detect this type of activity might not be effective in all cases. Employee errors or misconduct could subject us to civil claims for negligence or regulatory enforcement actions, including fines and restrictions on our business.

In addition, there have been instances where financial institutions have been victims of fraudulent activity in which criminals pose as customers to initiate wire and automated clearinghouse transactions out of customer accounts. The massive breach of the systems of a credit bureau in 2019 presents additional threats as criminals now have more information than ever before about a larger portion of our country’s population, which could be used by criminals to pose as customers initiating transfers of money from customer accounts. Although we have policies and procedures in place to verify the authenticity of our customers, we cannot assure that such policies and procedures will prevent all fraudulent transfers.

We have implemented security controls to prevent unauthorized access to our computer systems, and we require that our third-party service providers maintain similar controls. However, the Company’s management cannot be certain that these measures will be successful. A security breach of the computer systems and loss of confidential information, such as customer account numbers and related information, could result in a loss of customers’ confidence and, thus, loss of business. We could also lose revenue if competitors gain access to confidential information about our business operations and use it to compete with us. While we maintain specific “cyber” insurance coverage, which would apply in the event of various breach scenarios, the amount of coverage may not be adequate in any particular case. Furthermore, because cyber threat scenarios are inherently difficult to predict and can take many forms, some breaches may not be covered under our cyber insurance coverage.

Further, we may be affected by data breaches at retailers and other third parties who participate in data interchanges with us and our customers that involve the theft of customer credit and debit card data, which may include the theft of our debit card PIN numbers and commercial card information used to make purchases at such retailers and other third parties. Such data breaches could result in us incurring significant expenses to reissue debit cards and cover losses, which could result in a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

To date, we have not experienced any material losses relating to cyber-attacks or other information security breaches, but there can be no assurance that we will not suffer such attacks or attempted breaches, or incur resulting losses in the future. Our risk and exposure to these matters remains heightened because of, among other things, the evolving nature of these threats, and our plans to continue to implement internet and mobile banking capabilities to meet customer demand. As cyber and other data security threats continue to evolve, we may be required to expend significant additional resources to continue to modify and enhance its protective measures or to investigate and remediate any security vulnerabilities.

Our assets at risk for cyber-attacks include financial assets and non-public information belonging to customers. We use several third-party vendors who have access to our assets via electronic media. Certain cyber security risks arise due to this access, including cyber espionage, blackmail, ransom, and theft. As cyber and other data security threats continue to evolve, we may be required to expend significant additional resources to continue to modify and enhance our protective measures or to investigate and remediate any security vulnerabilities.

Our business could be adversely affected through third parties who perform significant operational services on our behalf.

The third parties performing operational services for the Company are subject to risks similar to those faced by the Company relating to cybersecurity, breakdowns or failures of their own systems, or misconduct of their employees. Like many other community banks, State Bank also relies, in significant part, on a single vendor for the systems which allow State Bank to provide banking services to State Bank’s customers.

One or more of the third parties utilized by us may experience a cybersecurity event or operational disruption and, if any such event does occur, it may not be adequately addressed, either operationally or financially, by such third party. Further, the operations of our third-party vendors could fail or otherwise become delayed as a result of COVID-19. Certain of these third parties may have limited indemnification obligations to us in the event of a cybersecurity event or operational disruption, or may not have the financial capacity to satisfy their indemnification obligations.

Financial or operational difficulties of a third party provider could also impair our operations if those difficulties interfere with such third party’s ability to serve the Company. If a critical third-party provider is unable to meet the needs of the Company in a timely manner, or if the services or products provided by such third party are terminated or otherwise delayed and if the Company is not able to develop alternative sources for these services and products quickly and cost-effectively, our business could be materially adversely effected.

Additionally, regulatory guidance adopted by federal banking regulators addressing how banks select, engage and manage their third-party relationships, affects the circumstances and conditions under which we work with third parties and the cost of managing such relationships.

Strong competition within our market area may reduce our ability to attract and retain deposits and originate loans.

We face competition both in originating loans and in attracting deposits within our market area. We compete for clients by offering personal service and competitive rates on our loans and deposit products. The type of institutions we compete with include large regional financial institutions, community banks, thrifts and credit unions operating within our market areas. Nontraditional sources of competition for loan and deposit dollars come from captive auto finance companies, mortgage banking companies, internet banks, brokerage companies, insurance companies and direct mutual funds. As a result of their size and ability to achieve economies of scale, certain of our competitors offer a broader range of products and services than we offer. We expect competition to remain intense in the future due to legislative, regulatory and technological changes and the continuing trend of consolidation in the financial services industry. In addition, to stay competitive in our markets we may need to adjust the interest rates on our products to match the rates offered by our competitors, which could adversely affect our net interest margin. As a result, our profitability depends upon our continued ability to successfully compete in our market areas while achieving our investment objectives.

We may be required to repurchase loans we have sold or indemnify loan purchasers under the terms of the sale agreements, which could adversely affect our liquidity, results of operations and financial statements.

When State Bank sells a mortgage loan, it agrees to repurchase or substitute a mortgage loan if it is later found to have breached any representation or warranty State Bank made about the loan or if the borrower is later found to have committed fraud in connection with the origination of the loan. While we have underwriting policies and procedures designed to avoid breaches of representations and warranties as well as borrower fraud, there can be no assurance that no breach or fraud will ever occur. Required repurchases, substitutions or indemnifications could have an adverse impact on our liquidity, results of operations and financial statements.

Legislative, Legal and Regulatory Risks:

FDIC insurance premiums may increase materially, which could negatively affect our profitability.

The FDIC insures deposits at FDIC insured financial institutions, including State Bank. The FDIC charges the insured financial institutions premiums to maintain the DIF at a certain level. During 2008 and 2009, there were higher levels of bank failures which dramatically increased resolution costs of the FDIC and depleted the deposit insurance fund. The FDIC collected a special assessment in 2009 to replenish the DIF and also required a prepayment of an estimated amount of future deposit insurance premiums. The FDIC recently adopted rules revising the assessments in a manner benefiting banks with assets totaling less than $10 billion. There can be no assurance, however, that assessments will not be changed in the future.

We operate in a highly regulated industry, and the laws and regulations that govern our operations, corporate governance, executive compensation and financial accounting, or reporting, including changes in, or failure to comply with the same, may adversely affect the Company.

The banking industry is highly regulated. We are subject to supervision, regulation and examination by various federal and state regulators, including the FRB, the SEC, the CFPB, the FDIC, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”), and various state regulatory agencies. The statutory and regulatory framework that governs the Company is generally designed to protect depositors and customers, the DIF, the U.S. banking and financial system, and financial markets as a whole and not to protect shareholders. These laws and regulations, among other matters, prescribe minimum capital requirements, impose limitations on our business activities (including foreclosure and collection practices), limit the dividends or distributions that we can pay, and impose certain specific accounting requirements that may be more restrictive and may result in greater or earlier charges to earnings or reductions in capital than would otherwise be required under generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America. Compliance with laws and regulations can be difficult and costly, and changes to laws and regulations often impose additional compliance costs. Both the scope of the laws and regulations and the intensity of the supervision to which we are subject have increased in recent years in response to the perceived state of the financial services industry, as well as other factors such as technological and market changes. Such regulation and supervision may increase our costs and limit our ability to pursue business opportunities. Further, our failure to comply with these laws and regulations, even if the failure was inadvertent or reflects a difference in interpretation, could subject the Company to restrictions on business activities, fines, and other penalties, any of which could adversely affect results of operations, the capital base, and the price of our common shares. Further, any new laws, rules, or regulations could make compliance more difficult or expensive or otherwise adversely affect our business and financial condition.

Legislative or regulatory changes or actions could adversely impact our business.

The financial services industry is extensively regulated. We are subject to extensive state and federal regulation, supervision and legislation that govern almost all aspects of our operations. Laws and regulations may change from time to time and are primarily intended for the protection of consumers, depositors, borrowers, the DIF and the banking system as a whole, and not to benefit our shareholders.

Regulations affecting banks and financial services businesses are undergoing continuous change, especially in light of COVID-19 and the stimulus programs issued in connection therewith, and management cannot predict the effect of these changes. While such changes are generally intended to lessen the regulatory burden on financial institutions, the impact of any changes to laws and regulations or other actions by regulatory agencies may negatively impact us or our ability to increase the value of our business. Regulatory authorities have extensive discretion in connection with their supervisory and enforcement activities, including the imposition of restrictions on the operation of a financial institution, the classification of assets held by a financial institution, the adequacy of a financial institution’s allowance for loan losses and the ability to complete acquisitions. Additionally, actions by regulatory agencies against us could cause us to devote significant time and resources to defending our business and may lead to penalties that materially affect us and our shareholders. Even the reduction of regulatory restrictions could have an adverse effect on us and our shareholders if such lessening of restrictions increases competition within our industry or our market area.

Changes in accounting standards could influence our results of operations.

The accounting standard setters, including the FASB, the SEC and other regulatory bodies, periodically change the financial accounting and reporting standards that govern the preparation of our consolidated financial statements. These changes can be difficult to predict and can materially affect how we record and report our financial condition and results of operations. In some cases, we could be required to apply a new or revised standard retroactively, which would result in the restatement of our financial statements for prior periods.

The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”) requires management to make significant estimates that affect the financial statements. Due to the inherent nature of these estimates, actual results may vary materially from management’s estimates.

In June 2016, FASB issued a new accounting standard for recognizing current expected credit losses, commonly referred to as CECL. CECL will result in earlier recognition of credit losses and requires consideration of not only past and current events but also reasonable and supportable forecasts that affect collectability. The Company will be required to comply with the new standard in the first quarter of 2023. Upon adoption of CECL, credit loss allowances may increase, which would decrease retained earnings and regulatory capital. The federal banking regulators have adopted a regulation that will allow banks to phase in the day-one impact of CECL on regulatory capital over three years. CECL implementation poses operational risk, including the failure to properly transition internal processes or systems, which could lead to call report errors, financial misstatements, or operational losses.

Noncompliance with the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and other anti-money laundering statutes and regulations could cause a material financial loss.

The BSA and the Patriot Act contain anti-money laundering and financial transparency provisions intended to detect and prevent the use of the U.S. financial system for money laundering and terrorist financing activities. The BSA, as amended by the Patriot Act, requires depository institutions and their holding companies to undertake activities including maintaining an anti-money laundering program, verifying the identity of clients, monitoring for and reporting suspicious transactions, reporting on cash transactions exceeding specified thresholds, and responding to requests for information by regulatory authorities and law enforcement agencies. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), a unit of the Treasury Department that administers the BSA, is authorized to impose significant civil money penalties for violations of those requirements and has recently engaged in coordinated enforcement efforts with the federal bank regulatory agencies, as well as the U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Internal Revenue Service. The AMLA is intended to be a comprehensive reform and modernization to U.S. bank secrecy and anti-money laundering laws, which includes a codified risk-based approach to anti-money laundering compliance for financial institutions; requires the development of standards for evaluating technology and internal processes for BSA compliance; expands enforcement-related and investigation-related authority, including increasing available sanctions for certain BSA violations and instituting BSA whistleblower incentives and protections.

There is also increased scrutiny of compliance with the rules enforced by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”). If the Company’s policies, procedures, and systems are deemed deficient, or if the policies, procedures, and systems of the financial institutions that the Company has already acquired or may acquire in the future are deficient, the Company may be subject to liability, including fines and regulatory actions such as restrictions on State Bank’s ability to pay dividends and the necessity to obtain regulatory approvals to proceed with certain planned business activities, including acquisition plans, which could negatively impact our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Failure to maintain and implement adequate programs to combat money laundering and terrorist financing could also have serious reputational consequences for the Company.

We may be the subject of litigation, which could result in legal liability and damage to our business and reputation.

From time to time, we may be subject to claims or legal action from customers, employees or others. Financial institutions like the Company and State Bank are facing a growing number of significant class actions, including those based on the manner of calculation of interest on loans and the assessment of overdraft fees. Future litigation could include claims for substantial compensatory and/or punitive damages or claims for indeterminate amounts of damages. We are also involved from time to time in other reviews, investigations and proceedings (both formal and informal) by governmental and other agencies regarding our business. These matters also could result in adverse judgments, settlements, fines, penalties, injunctions or other relief. Like other large financial institutions, we are also subject to risk from potential employee misconduct, including non-compliance with policies and improper use or disclosure of confidential information.

Our insurance may not cover all claims that may be asserted against us, and any claims asserted against us, regardless of merit or eventual outcome, may harm our reputation. Should the ultimate judgments or settlements in any litigation exceed our insurance coverage, they could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, we may not be able to obtain appropriate types or levels of insurance in the future, nor may we be able to obtain adequate replacement policies with acceptable terms, if at all.

We could face legal and regulatory risk arising out of our residential mortgage business.

Numerous federal and state governmental, legislative and regulatory authorities are investigating practices in the business of mortgage and home equity lending and servicing and in the mortgage-related insurance and reinsurance industries. We could face the risk of class actions, other litigation and claims from: the owners of or purchasers of such loans originated or serviced by us, homeowners involved in foreclosure proceedings or various mortgage-related insurance programs, downstream purchasers of homes sold after foreclosure, title insurers, and other potential claimants. Included among these claims are claims from purchasers of mortgage and home equity loans seeking the repurchase of loans where the loans allegedly breached origination covenants, representations, and warranties made to the purchasers in the purchase and sale agreements. The CFPB has issued new rules for mortgage origination and mortgage servicing. Both the origination and servicing rules create new private rights of action for consumers against lenders and servicers in the event of certain violations.

Risks Related to Our Capital and Common Shares:

Our ability to pay cash dividends is limited, and we may be unable to pay cash dividends in the future even if we elect to do so.

We are dependent primarily upon the earnings of our operating subsidiaries for funds to pay dividends on our common and depositary shares. The payment of dividends by us is also subject to regulatory restrictions. As a result, any payment of dividends in the future will be dependent, in large part, on our ability to satisfy these regulatory restrictions and our subsidiaries’ earnings, capital requirements, financial condition and other factors. There can be no assurance as to if or when the Company may pay dividends or as to the amount of any dividends which may be declared and paid to shareholders in future periods. Failure to pay dividends on our shares could have a material adverse effect on the market price of our shares.

A limited trading market exists for our common shares, which could lead to price volatility.

The ability to sell our common shares depends upon the existence of an active trading market for those shares. While our shares are listed for trading on the NASDAQ Capital Market, there is moderate trading volume in these shares. As a result, shareholders may be unable to sell our shares at the volume, price and time desired. The limited trading market for our shares may cause fluctuations in the market value of our shares to be exaggerated, leading to price volatility in excess of that which would occur in a more active trading market. In addition, even if a more active market of our shares should develop, we cannot guarantee that such a market will continue.

The market price of our common shares may be subject to fluctuations and volatility.

The market price of our common shares may fluctuate significantly due to, among other things, changes in market sentiment regarding our operations, financial results or business prospects, the banking industry generally or the macroeconomic outlook. Certain events or changes in the market or banking industry generally are beyond our control. In addition to the other risk factors contained or incorporated by reference herein, factors that could affect our trading price:

● failure to declare dividends on our common shares from time to time;

● any future offerings by us of our common shares;

● proposed or final regulatory changes or developments;

Equity markets in general and our shares have experienced volatility over the past few years. The market price of our shares may continue to be subject to volatility unrelated to our operating performance or business prospects, which could result in a decline in the market price of our shares.

Investors could become subject to regulatory restrictions upon ownership of our common shares.

Under the Federal Change in Bank Control Act, a person may be required to obtain prior approval from the Federal Reserve before acquiring 10 percent or more of our common shares or the power to directly or indirectly control our management, operations, or policies.

We have implemented anti-takeover devices that could make it more difficult for another company to purchase us, even though such a purchase may increase shareholder value.

In many cases, shareholders may receive a premium for their shares if we were purchased by another company. Ohio law and our Articles and Amended and Restated Regulations, as amended (“Regulations”), make it difficult for anyone to purchase us without the approval of our Board of Directors. Consequently, a takeover attempt may prove difficult, and shareholders may not realize the highest possible price for their securities.

We may be compelled to seek additional capital in the future, but capital may not be available when needed.

We are required by federal and state regulatory authorities to maintain adequate levels of capital to support our operations. In addition, federal banking agencies have proposed extensive changes to their capital requirements; including raising required amounts and eliminating the inclusion of certain instruments from the calculation of capital. In addition, we may elect to raise additional capital to support our business or to finance acquisitions, if any, or we may otherwise elect to raise additional capital. Our ability to raise additional capital, if needed, will depend on conditions in the capital markets, economic conditions and a number of other factors, many of which are outside our control, and on our financial performance. Accordingly, we cannot be assured of our ability to raise additional capital if needed or on terms acceptable to us. If we cannot raise additional capital when needed, it may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

General Risk Factors:

Our earnings are significantly affected by the fiscal and monetary policies of the federal government and its agencies.

The policies of the FRB impact us significantly. The FRB regulates the supply of money and credit in the United States. Its policies directly and indirectly influence the rate of interest earned on loans and paid on borrowings and interest-bearing deposits, and can also affect the value of financial instruments we hold. Those policies determine to a significant extent our cost of funds for lending and investing. Changes in those policies are beyond our control and are difficult to predict. FRB policies can also affect our borrowers, potentially increasing the risk that they may fail to repay their loans. For example, a tightening of the money supply by the FRB could reduce the demand for a borrower’s products and services. This could adversely affect the borrower’s earnings and ability to repay its loan, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Changes in tax laws could adversely affect our performance.

We are subject to extensive federal, state and local taxes, including income, excise, sales/use, payroll, franchise, withholding and ad valorem taxes. Changes to tax laws could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations; fair values of net deferred tax assets and obligations of state and political subdivisions held in our investment securities portfolio. In addition, our customers are subject to a wide variety of federal, state and local taxes. Changes in taxes paid by our customers may adversely affect their ability to purchase homes or consumer products, which could adversely affect their demand for our loans and deposit products. In addition, such negative effects on our customers could result in defaults on the loans we have made.

The preparation of our financial statements requires the use of estimates that may vary from actual results.

The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. requires management to make significant estimates that affect the financial statements. Two of our most critical estimates are the level of the allowance for loan losses and the accounting for goodwill and other intangibles. Because of the inherent nature of these estimates, we cannot provide complete assurance that we will not be required to adjust earnings for significant unexpected loan losses, nor that we will not recognize a material provision for impairment of our goodwill. For additional information regarding these critical estimates, see Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations beginning on page 30 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

We are at risk of increased losses from fraud.

Criminals are committing fraud at an increasing rate and are using more sophisticated techniques. In some cases, these individuals are part of larger criminal rings, which allow them to be more effective. Such fraudulent activity has taken many forms, ranging from debit card fraud, check fraud, mechanical devices attached to ATM machines, social engineering and phishing attacks to obtain personal information, or impersonation of clients through the use of falsified or stolen credentials. Additionally, an individual or business entity may properly identify itself, yet seek to establish a business relationship for the purpose of perpetrating fraud. An emerging type of fraud even involves the creation of synthetic identification in which fraudsters “create” individuals for the purpose of perpetrating fraud. Further, in addition to fraud committed directly against the Company, the Company may suffer losses as a result of fraudulent activity committed against third parties. Increased deployment of technologies, such as chip card technology, defray and reduce certain aspects of fraud; however, criminals are turning to other sources to steal personally identifiable information, such as unaffiliated healthcare providers and government entities, in order to impersonate the consumer and thereby commit fraud.

We need to constantly update our technology in order to compete and meet customer demands.

The financial services market, including banking services, is undergoing rapid technological changes with frequent introductions of new technology-driven products and services. In addition to better serving customers, the effective use of technology increases efficiency and may enable us to reduce costs. Our future success will depend, in part, on our ability to use technology to provide products and services that provide convenience to customers and to create additional efficiencies in our operations. Some of our competitors have substantially greater resources to invest in technological improvements. We may not be able to effectively implement new technology-driven products and services or be successful in marketing these products and services to our customers. Failure to successfully keep pace with technological changes affecting the financial services industry could negatively affect our growth, revenue and profit.

Climate change, severe weather, natural disasters, acts of war or terrorism and other external events could significantly impact our business.

Natural disasters, including severe weather events of increasing strength and frequency due to climate change, acts of war or terrorism, and other adverse external events could have a significant impact on our ability to conduct business or upon third parties who perform operational services for us or our customers. Such events could affect the stability of our deposit base, impair the ability of borrowers to repay outstanding loans, impair the value of collateral securing loans, cause significant property damage, result in lost revenue or cause us to incur additional expenses.

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.

None.

Item 2. Properties.

The

Company’s principal executive offices are located at 401 Clinton Street, Defiance, Ohio. State Bank owns this facility, with a

portion of the facility utilized as a retail banking center. In addition, State Bank owns the land and buildings occupied by 21 of

its banking centers and leases two other properties used as a banking center. The Company also occupies office space from various

parties for loan production and other business purposes on varying lease terms. There is no outstanding mortgage debt on any of the

properties which are owned by State Bank.

Listed below are the banking centers, loan production offices and service facilities of the Company and their addresses, all of which are located in Allen, Defiance, Delaware, Franklin, Fulton, Hancock, Lucas, Paulding, Williams and Wood counties of Ohio; Allen and Hamilton counties of Indiana; and Monroe county of Michigan:

SB Financial Group, Inc. Property List as of December 31, 2021

($ in thousands) Description/Address Leased/Owned Total Deposits 12/31/21

Main Banking Center & Corporate Office

401 Clinton Street, Defiance, OH Owned $ 283,626

Banking Centers/Drive-Thru's

510 Third Street, Defiance, OH (Drive-thru) Owned N/A

1600 North Clinton Street, Defiance, OH Leased 44,628

4080 West Dublin Granville Road, Dublin, OH Owned 71,371

104 North Michigan Avenue, Edgerton, OH Owned 15,808

201 East Lincoln Street, Findlay, OH Owned 18,291

408 South Main Street Suite A, Findlay, OH Leased 640

1232 North Main Street, Bowling Green, OH Owned 15,654

133 East Morenci Street, Lyons, OH Owned 23,633

930 West Market Street, Lima, OH Owned 55,166

1201 East Main Street, Montpelier, OH Owned 47,903

218 North First Street, Oakwood, OH Owned 27,373

220 North Main Street, Paulding, OH Owned 75,379

610 East South Boundary Street, Perrysburg, OH Owned 17,582

119 South State Street, Pioneer, OH Owned 42,021

311 Main Street, Walbridge, OH Owned 32,465

101 North Michigan Street, Edon, OH Owned 58,044

1379 North Shoop Avenue, Wauseon, OH Owned 67,043

Loan Production Offices

307 North Wayne Street, Angola, IN Owned N/A

10100 Lantern Road, Suite 240, Fishers, IN Leased N/A

94 Granville Street, Gahanna, OH Owned N/A

8194 Secor Road, Lambertville, MI Leased N/A

1900 Monroe Street, Suite 108, Toledo, OH Leased N/A

Service Facilities (SBT/ SBFG Title)

104 Depot Street, Archbold, OH Leased N/A

105 East Holland Street, Archbold, OH Leased N/A

125 West Butler Street, Bryan OH Owned N/A

9101 Antares Avenue, Columbus, OH Owned N/A

1911 Baltimore Road, Defiance, OH Leased N/A

10100 Lantern Road, Fishers, IN Leased N/A

SB Captive operates from office space located at 101 Convention Center Dr., Suite 850, Las Vegas, NV 89109.

The Company’s subsidiaries have several noncancellable leases for business use that expire over the next five years. Aggregate rental expense for these leases was $0.19 million and $0.18 million for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

Future minimum lease payments under operating leases are:

($ in thousands)

Total minimum lease payments $ 1,488

Item 3. Legal Proceedings.

In the ordinary course of our business, the Company and its subsidiaries are parties to various legal actions, which we believe are incidental to the operation of our business. Although the ultimate outcome and amount of liability, if any, with respect to these legal actions cannot presently be ascertained with certainty, in the opinion of management, based upon information currently available to us, any resulting liability is not likely to have a material adverse effect on the Company’s consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.

Not Applicable

Supplemental Item: Information about our Executive Officers

The following table lists the names and ages of the executive officers of the Company as of February 22, 2022, the positions presently held by each executive officer, and the business experience of each executive officer during their employment at the Company. Unless otherwise indicated, each person has held his or her principal occupation(s) for more than five years.

PART II

Market Information

Our common shares are traded on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol “SBFG”. There were 6,884,330 common shares outstanding as of December 31, 2021, which were held by approximately 1,203 record holders.

The Company paid quarterly dividends on its common shares in the aggregate amounts of $0.44 per share and $0.40 per share in 2021 and 2020, respectively. The Company presently anticipates continuing to pay quarterly dividends in the future at similar levels. However, there is no guarantee that dividends on our common shares will continue in the future.

Payment of dividends by State Bank may be restricted at any time at the discretion of the regulatory authorities, if they deem such dividends to constitute an unsafe and/or unsound banking practice. These provisions could have the effect of limiting the Company’s ability to pay dividends on its outstanding shares. Moreover, the Federal Reserve Board expects the Company to serve as a source of strength to its subsidiary banks, which may require it to retain capital for further investment in State Bank, rather than for dividends to shareholders of the Company. The Company’s ability to pay dividends on its shares is also conditioned upon the payment, on a current basis, of quarterly interest payments on the subordinated debentures underlying the Company’s trust preferred securities. In addition, under the terms of the Company’s fixed-to-floating rate subordinated debt, the Company’s ability to pay dividends on its shares is conditioned upon the Company continuing to make required principal and interest payments, and not incurring an event of default, with respect to the subordinated debt.

Period Ending

The table below reflects the common shares repurchased by the Company during the three months ended December 31, 2021. As of December 31, 2021, the Company had 495,639 shares remaining of the 750,000 approved under the Company’s existing share repurchase program which was authorized on May 25, 2021 and expires May 31, 2022.

Item 6. [Reserved].

SB Financial Group, Inc. (“SB Financial”), is a financial holding company registered with the Federal Reserve Board and subject to regulation under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended. Through its direct and indirect subsidiaries, SB Financial is engaged in commercial and retail banking, wealth management and private client financial services.

The following discussion provides a review of the consolidated financial condition and results of operations of SB Financial and its subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company”). This discussion should be read in conjunction with the Company’s consolidated financial statements and related footnotes as of and for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020.

Strategic Discussion

The focus and strategic goal of the Company is to grow into and remain a top decile (>90th percentile) independent financial services company. The Company intends to achieve and maintain that goal by executing our five key initiatives.

Increase profitability through ongoing diversification of revenue streams: For the twelve months ended December 31, 2021, the Company generated $30.7 million in noninterest income, or 44.8 percent of total operating revenue, from fee-based products. These revenue sources include fees generated from saleable residential mortgage loans, retail deposit products, wealth management services, saleable business-based loans (small business and farm service) and title agency revenue. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2020, the Company generated $30.1 million in revenue from fee-based products, or 45.6 percent of total operating revenue.

Strengthen our penetration in all markets served: Over our 119-year history of continuous operation in Northwest Ohio, we have established a significant presence in our traditional markets in Defiance, Fulton, Paulding and Williams counties in Ohio. In our newer markets of Bowling Green, Columbus, Findlay, Toledo (Ohio) and Ft. Wayne (Indiana), our current market penetration is minimal but we believe our potential for growth is significant. We have expanded and committed additional resources to our presence in the Findlay and Edgerton markets. We continue to seek to expand the presence and penetration in all of our markets.

Expand product utilization by new and existing customers: As of December 31, 2021, we operated in ten counties in Northwest Ohio and Northeast Indiana with 23 full service offices, 24 full service ATM’s and five loan production offices. Combined in the ten counties of operation, we command 4.47 percent of the deposit market share, which has steadily grown.

Deliver gains in operational excellence: Our management team believes that becoming and remaining a high-performance financial services company will depend upon seamlessly and consistently delivering operational excellence, as demonstrated by the Company’s leadership in the origination and servicing of residential mortgage loans. As of December 31, 2021, the Company serviced 8,614 residential mortgage loans with a principal balance of $1.36 billion. As of December 31, 2020, the Company serviced 8,543 loans with a principal balance of $1.30 billion.

Sustain asset quality: As of December 31, 2021, the Company’s asset quality metrics remained strong. Specifically, total nonperforming assets were $6.5 million, or 0.49 percent of total assets. Total delinquent loans at December 31, 2021 were 0.46 percent of total loans. As of December 31, 2020, the Company had total nonperforming assets of $7.3 million, or 0.58 percent of total assets. Total delinquent loans at December 31, 2020 were 0.75 percent of total loans.

The successful execution of these five strategies have enabled the Company to improve financial performance across a broad series of metrics. These metrics over the last five years are outlined in the following table. Specifically, the Company has increased total assets by $454.3 million, or 52 percent. The growth has been on both sides of the balance sheet over the five year period, with loans growing $126.1 million or 18 percent and deposits growing $383.4 million or 52.6 percent.

The Company has raised capital through the issuance of equity and debt to the market on two separate occasions during the period, which has raised equity capital significantly and expanded liquidity for potential strategic expansion. Strategic expansion has occurred with the acquisition of a small community bank, the opening of three branch offices and the acquisition of two full service title agencies.

Financial Highlights

Year Ended December 31,

($ in thousands, except per share data)

Per Common Share Data

Average Balances

Ratios

Period End Totals

Subordinated debt, net 19,546 - - - -

1 Cash dividends on common shares divided by net income available to common.

Critical Accounting Policies

The accounting and reporting policies of the Company are in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States and conform to general practices within the banking industry. The Company’s significant accounting policies are described in detail in the notes to the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions. The Company’s financial position and results of operations can be affected by these estimates and assumptions and are integral to the understanding of reported results. Critical accounting policies are those policies that management believes are the most important to the portrayal of the Company’s financial condition and results, and they require management to make estimates that are difficult, subjective or complex.

Allowance for Loan Losses: The allowance for loan losses provides coverage for probable losses inherent in the Company’s loan portfolio. Management evaluates the adequacy of the allowance for loan losses each quarter based on changes, if any, in the nature and amount of problem assets and associated collateral, underwriting activities, loan portfolio composition (including product mix and geographic, industry or customer-specific concentrations), trends in loan performance, regulatory guidance and economic factors. This evaluation is inherently subjective, as it requires the use of significant management estimates. Many factors can affect management’s estimates of specific and expected losses, including volatility of default probabilities, rating migrations, loss severity and economic and political conditions. The allowance is increased through provisions charged to operating earnings and reduced by net charge offs.

The Company determines the amount of the allowance based on relative risk characteristics of the loan portfolio. The allowance recorded for commercial loans is based on reviews of individual credit relationships and an analysis of the migration of commercial loans and actual loss experience. The allowance recorded for homogeneous consumer loans is based on an analysis of loan mix, risk characteristics of the portfolio, fraud loss and bankruptcy experiences, and historical losses, adjusted for current trends, for each homogeneous category or group of loans. The allowance for credit losses relating to impaired loans is based on each impaired loan’s observable market price, the collateral for certain collateral-dependent loans, or the discounted cash flows using the loan’s effective interest rate.

Regardless of the extent of the Company’s analysis of customer performance, portfolio trends or risk management processes, certain inherent, but undetected, losses are probable within the loan portfolio. This is due to several factors including inherent delays in obtaining information regarding a customer’s financial condition or changes in their unique business conditions, the subjective nature of individual loan valuations, collateral assessments and the interpretation of economic trends. Volatility of economic or customer-specific conditions affecting the identification and estimation of losses for larger non-homogeneous credits and the sensitivity of assumptions utilized to establish allowances for homogenous groups of loans are also factors. The Company estimates a range of inherent losses related to the existence of these exposures. The estimates are based upon the Company’s evaluation of imprecise risk associated with the commercial and consumer allowance levels and the estimated impact of the current economic environment.

Goodwill and Other Intangibles: The Company records all assets and liabilities acquired in purchase acquisitions, including goodwill and other intangibles, at fair value as required. Goodwill is subject, at a minimum, to annual tests for impairment. Other intangible assets are amortized over their estimated useful lives using straight-line and accelerated methods, and are subject to impairment if events or circumstances indicate a possible inability to realize the carrying amount. The initial goodwill and other intangibles recorded and subsequent impairment analysis requires management to make subjective judgments concerning estimates of how the acquired asset will perform in the future. Events and factors that may significantly affect the estimates include, among others, customer attrition, changes in revenue growth trends, specific industry conditions and changes in competition.

Deferred Tax Liability: The Company has evaluated its deferred tax liability to determine if it is more likely than not that the liability will be realized in the future. The Company’s most recent evaluation has determined that the Company will more likely than not be able to realize the remaining deferred tax liability.

Income Tax Accounting: The Company files a consolidated federal income tax return. The provision for income taxes is based upon income in the consolidated financial statements, rather than amounts reported on our income tax return. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect of a change in rates on the deferred tax assets and liabilities is recognized as income or expense in the period that includes the enactment date.

Changes in Financial Condition

Total assets at December 31, 2021, were $1.33 billion, compared to $1.26 billion at December 31, 2020. Loans (excluding loans held for sale) were $822.7 million at December 31, 2021, compared to $872.7 million at December 31, 2020. Total deposits were $1.11 billion at December 31, 2021, compared to $1.05 billion at December 31, 2020. The Company continued to experience elevated levels of liquidity as the balance sheets of both personal and business clients were supplemented by government intervention and support. The increase in liquidity by these parties has resulted in higher deposit levels, which in turn increased the overall asset size of the Company.

The following are the condensed average balance sheets of the Company for the years ending December 31 and includes the interest earned or paid, and the average interest rate, on each asset and liability:

Average Average Average Average Average Average

Assets

Liabilities

-- Computed on a fully tax equivalent basis (FTE)

The following tables set forth the effect of volume and rate changes on interest income and expense for the periods indicated. For purposes of these tables, changes in interest due to volume and rate were determined as follows:

● Volume variance - change in volume multiplied by the previous year’s rate.

● Rate variance - change in rate multiplied by the previous year’s volume.

Total

Variance Variance Attributable To

Interest income

Loans, net of unearned income and deferred fees1 (1,809 ) (1,172 ) (637 )

Interest expense

Savings and interest-bearing demand deposits (1,339 ) 1,153 (2,492 )

Repurchase agreements & other (28 ) (0 ) (28 )

Trust preferred securities (57 ) - (57 )

The maturity distribution and weighted-average interest rates of debt securities available-for-sale at December 31, 2021, are set forth in the table below. The weighted-average interest rates are based on coupon rates for securities purchased at par value and on effective interest rates considering amortization or accretion if the securities were purchased at a premium or discount:

Maturing

Available for sale:

1 Yields are presented on a tax-equivalent basis.

In June of 2020, we completed the acquisition of The Edon State Bank, which added approximately $50 million in deposits and $15 million in loans. Building on the success of our entry into the city of Edon, we opened an office in nearby Edgerton, Ohio in May of 2021. The Edgerton expansion has also been positive as we ended the year with over $15 million in both loans and deposits in that office.

($ in thousands) Years Ended December 31,

Total loans

Total deposits

Loans held for investment decreased $50.0 million,

or 5.7 percent, to $822.7 million at December 31, 2021, which was due to a decrease in outstanding PPP loans during 2021. The Company

participated fully in the PPP initiative in both 2020 and 2021, which in total, encompassed 1,100 loans with an aggregate principal amount

of $111.4 million. At year-end 2021, the balance of PPP was down to approximately 50 loans, with an aggregate principal amount of $2 million,

as a result of SBA forgiveness of a majority of the PPP loans that we originated. Adjusted for PPP activity, loan growth compared to 2020

was up $18.5 million, or 2.3 percent. In the first quarter of 2021, the Company introduced a Private Client Residential Mortgage product.

This product, of which $76 million was originated during 2021, offset the refinance activity that occurred in our portfolio during the

year.

Concentrations of Credit Risk: The Company makes commercial, real estate and installment loans to customers located mainly in the Tri-State region of Ohio, Indiana and Michigan. Commercial loans include loans collateralized by commercial real estate, business assets and, in the case of agricultural loans, crops and farm equipment and the loans are expected to be repaid from cash flow from operations of businesses. As of December 31, 2021, commercial business and agricultural loans made up approximately 29.6 percent of the loans held for investment (“HFI”) loan portfolio while commercial real estate loans accounted for approximately 42.5 percent of the HFI loan portfolio. Residential first mortgage loans made up approximately 20.9 percent of the HFI loan portfolio and are secured by first mortgages on residential real estate, while consumer loans to individuals made up approximately 7.0 percent of the HFI loan portfolio and are primarily secured by consumer assets.

Maturities and Sensitivities of Loans to Changes in Interest Rates: The following table shows the maturity distribution of loans outstanding as of December 31, 2021. The amounts have been categorized between loans with a fixed or floating interest rate (floating rate loans have an adjustable interest rate that changes in accordance to a rate index).

Loans with fixed interest rates:

HELOC 5 - - - 5

Loans with floating interest rates:

Total loans:

Deposits increased $64.0 million, or 6.1 percent, to $1.11 billion at December 31, 2021. Deposits continued growing in 2021 on top of the over $200 million in growth experienced during 2020. Expanded government support and reduced economic activity has resulted in higher balances in client deposit accounts. During 2021, we experienced a shift in the mix of our deposit balances as more of our clients moved balances to short-term transactional accounts. Specifically, during 2021, time deposits decreased $73.0 million or 32 percent while other deposits increased $137.1 million or 17 percent.

The average amount of deposits and weighted-average rates paid are summarized as follows for the years ended December 31:

Average Average Average Average Average Average

($ in thousands) Amount Rate Amount Rate Amount Rate

Time deposits that exceeded the FDIC insurance limit of $250,000 are summarized as follows:

Over three months through six months 415 4,894

Over six months and through twelve months 3,083 1,658

Stockholders’ equity at December 31, 2021, was $144.9 million or 10.9 percent of total assets compared to $142.9 million or 11.4 percent of total assets at December 31, 2020. Retained earnings increased during the year by $15.1 million due to earnings of $18.3 million less dividends paid to common shareholders of $3.2 million. The fair market value of the bond portfolio decreased during 2021 due to the rise in interest rates, which resulted in a decrease in Other Comprehensive Income (“OCI”) of $4.1 million.

The Company continued to repurchase its own stock during the year. Specifically, the Company repurchased approximately 500,000 shares during 2021 at an average price of $18.50 per share, which was just slightly below book value. As of December 31, 2021, the Company had 495,639 shares remaining of the 750,000 shares authorized for repurchase under the Company’s existing share repurchase program which was authorized on May 25, 2021 and expires May 21, 2022.

Asset Quality Years Ended December 31,

Accruing restructured loans (TDRs) 725 810 -10.5 %

Foreclosed assets and other assets held for sale, net 2,104 23 9047.8 %

Nonaccruing loans/total loans 0.44 % 0.74 % -39.7 %

Nonperforming assets/total assets 0.49 % 0.58 % -15.6 %

Net charge offs/average loans -0.02 % 0.08 % -125.0 %

Nonperforming assets consisting of loans, Other Real Estate Owned (“OREO”) and accruing TDRs totaled $6.5 million, or 0.49 percent of total assets at December 31, 2021, a decrease of $0.8 million or 10.7 percent from 2020. Net charge offs were down significantly during 2021, with total recoveries of $0.18 million, which was a $0.86 million decrease compared to total charge offs of $0.68 million for 2020. The Company’s loan loss allowance at December 31, 2021, now covers nonperforming loans at 315 percent, up from 174 percent at December 31, 2020.

The following schedule presents an analysis of the allowance for loan losses, average loan data and related ratios at December 31 for the years indicated:

Commercial real estate - nonowner occupied 825 - 264,980 0.00 %

Commercial real estate - owner occupied 210 - 96,106 0.00 %

The allowance for loan losses balance and the provision for loan losses are determined by management based upon periodic reviews of the loan portfolio. In addition, management considers the level of charge offs on loans, as well as the fluctuations of charge offs and recoveries on loans, in the factors which caused these changes. Estimating the risk of loss and the amount of loss is necessarily subjective. Accordingly, the allowance is maintained by management at a level considered adequate to cover losses that are currently anticipated based on past loss experience, economic conditions, information about specific borrower situations, including their financial position and collateral values, and other factors and estimates which are subject to change over time.

The Company has substantially increased the reserve level over the last two years. Specifically, since December 31, 2019 the allowance balance has increased from $8.8 million to $13.8 million at December 31, 2021, which is an increase of $5.0 million or 59 percent. This increase was the result of $5.6 million in provision expense during the period ($4.5 million in 2020 and $1.1 million in 2021) and minimal charge-offs, which were just $0.5 million over the two year period.

The following schedule provides a breakdown of the allowance for loan losses allocated by type of loan and related ratios at December 31 for the years indicated:

As detailed in the risk factors, the CARES Act provided for significant consumer and small business relief due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Company provided payment relief to a number of consumer and small business customers throughout 2020 and 2021, which we believe was successful and enabled our clients to weather the pandemic effectively. All such COVID-related payment deferrals had expired or been removed by December 31, 2021 and all clients were back to contractual terms at such date.

Regulatory capital reporting is required for State Bank only, as the Company is currently exempt from quarterly regulatory capital level measurement pursuant to the Small Bank Holding Company Policy Statement. As of December 31, 2021, State Bank met all regulatory capital levels required to be considered well-capitalized (see Note 18 to the Consolidated Financial Statements).

On May 27, 2021, the Company issued and sold $20.0 million in aggregate principal amount of its 3.65% Fixed to Floating Rate Subordinated Notes due 2031 in a private placement exempt from the registration requirements under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The Subordinated Notes bear interest at a fixed rate of 3.65% through May 31, 2026. From June 1, 2026 to the maturity date or earlier redemption of the Subordinated Notes, the interest rate will reset quarterly to an interest rate per annum, equal to the then-current-three-month Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”) provided by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York plus 296 basis points. The proceeds from the Subordinated Notes will be used to assist the Company in meeting various corporate obligations, including share buyback, acquisition costs and organic asset growth. The Subordinated Notes have a maturity of 10 years.

Earnings Summary – 2021 vs. 2020

Net income for 2021 was $18.3 million, or $2.56 per diluted share, compared with net income of $14.9 million, or $1.96 per diluted share, for 2020. State Bank reported net income for 2021 of $18.6 million, which was up from the $16.0 million in net income in 2020. SBFG Title reported net income for 2020 of $0.5 million, which was down from net income of $0.6 million in 2020.

Positive results for 2021 included loan growth

of $18.5 million when excluding the impact of the PPP initiative, and deposit growth of $64.0 million. The Company fully participated

in both phases of PPP, with a total of $111.4 million in loans to over 1,100 clients with revenue of $3.4 million for 2021 compared to

$1.4 million for 2020. The mortgage banking business line continued to contribute significant revenues, with residential real estate loan

production of $600.0 million for the year, resulting in $17.3 million of revenue from gains on sale. The level of mortgage origination

was down from the $694.2 million in 2020. The Company’s loans serviced for others ended the year at $1.36 billion, up from $1.30

billion at December 31, 2020.

Operating revenue increased by $2.6 million, or 3.9 percent, from $66.0 million in 2020 to $68.6 million in 2021 due to increased PPP fees and OMSR recapture which offset lower mortgage gain revenue. SBFG Title increased revenue by $0.1 million of $2.1 million for 2021.

Operating expense increased by $1.7 million, or 4.0 percent, from $43.1 million in 2020 to $44.8 million in 2021, due to compensation and fringe benefit cost increases and higher spend on technology/digital initiatives. These expense increases were offset by lower mortgage commission expense due to lower volume.

Results of Operations

Years Ended December 31,

($ in thousands, except per share data) 2021 2020 % Change

1 Operating revenue equals net interest income plus noninterest income.

Net interest income was $37.9 million for 2021 compared to $35.9 million for 2020, an increase of $2.0 million or 5.4 percent. Average earning assets increased to $1.24 billion in 2021, compared to $1.07 billion in 2020, an increase of $170.7 million or 15.9 percent due to a higher bond portfolio, which offset slightly lower loan volume. The consolidated 2021 full year net interest margin on an FTE basis decreased 30 basis points to 3.06 percent compared to 3.36 percent for the full year of 2020. PPP activity during 2021 increased margin revenue by $3.0 million for the full year of 2021.

Provision for loan losses of $1.0 million was taken in 2021 compared to $4.5 million taken for 2020. For 2021, net recoveries totaled $0.18 million, or (0.02) percent of average loans. This charge off level was significantly lower than 2020, in which net charge offs were $0.68 million or 0.08 percent of average loans.

Noninterest Income Years Ended December 31,

Gain on sale of non-mortgage loans 158 453 -65.1 %

Total noninterest income was $30.7 million for 2021 compared to $30.1 million for 2020, representing an increase of $0.6 million, or 2.0 percent, year-over-year. Although mortgage gain on sale was down from the record year in 2020 by $8.1 million, or 31.9 percent, the Company was able to offset that reduction by recapture of mortgage servicing rights of $3.9 million during 2021. The Company sold $489.4 million of originated mortgages into the secondary market in 2021, which allowed our serviced loan portfolio to grow to $1.36 billion at December 31, 2021 from $1.30 billion at December 31, 2020. The higher servicing balance of the portfolio led to the 5.6 percent increase in mortgage loan servicing income. Sales of non-mortgage loans (small business and farm credits) decreased in 2021 as compared to 2020, as SBA activity continued to be focused on the PPP initiative. The Company expanded its wealth management assets under management to $618.3 million, up $59.9 million, which resulted in a 17.5 percent increase in wealth fee income.

Noninterest Expense Years Ended December 31,

Telephone and communications 581 535 8.6 %

Postage and delivery expense 414 415 -0.2 %

Total noninterest expense was $44.8 million for 2021 compared to $43.1 million for 2020, representing a $1.7 million, or 4.0 percent, increase year-over-year. Total full-time equivalent employees ended 2021 at 269, which was up 25 from year end 2020.

Salaries and benefits were driven by the increase in total full time employees as we filled a number of open positions during the year. We also have seen higher costs in technology as we have continued to add resources and digital options for our clients.

Earnings Summary – 2020 vs. 2019

Net income for 2020 was $14.9 million, or $1.96 per diluted share, compared with net income of $12.0 million and net income available to common of $11.0 million, or $1.51 per diluted share, for 2019. State Bank reported net income for 2020 of $16.0 million, which was up from the $12.5 million in net income in 2020. SBFG Title reported net income for 2020 of $0.6 million, which was up from the $0.3 million in 2019.

Positive results for 2020 included loan growth of $47.2 million, and deposit growth of $208.8 million. The mortgage banking business line continues to contribute significant revenues, with residential real estate loan production of $694.2 million for the year, resulting in $25.4 million of revenue from gains on sale. The level of mortgage origination was up from the $445.3 million in 2019. The Company’s loans serviced for others ended the year at $1.3 billion, up from $1.2 billion at December 31, 2019. The Company realized over $1.4 million in revenue from the PPP initiative.

Operating revenue was up compared to the prior year by $13.2 million, or 25.0 percent, which was impacted by a $3.6 million temporary OMSR impairment. Our 2020 results include the full year impact from SBFG Title with net income of $0.6 million, and SB Captive, with net income of $0.9 million. Net interest margin on a fully tax equivalent basis (“FTE”) for 2020 was 3.36 percent, down 46 basis points from 2019.

Operating expense was up compared to the prior year by $5.7 million, or 15.2 percent, due to compensation and fringe benefit cost increases as a result of higher mortgage commission levels. Operating leverage (growth in revenue divided by growth in operating expense) for the year was a positive 1.6 times.

Net charge offs for 2020 of $0.68 million resulted in a loan loss provision of $4.5 million, compared to net charge offs of $0.21 million and a $0.8 million loan loss provision in 2019.

Goodwill, Intangibles and Capital Purchases

The Company completed its most recent annual goodwill impairment review as of December 31, 2021. At December 31, 2021, the Company concluded that it was more likely than not that the fair value of the reporting unit exceeded its carrying value, resulting in no impairment. The Company’s goodwill is further discussed in Note 8 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Management plans to continue from time to time to purchase additional premises and equipment and improve current facilities to meet the current and future needs of the Company’s customers. These purchases will include buildings, leasehold improvements, furniture and equipment. Management expects that cash on hand and cash generated from current operations will fund these capital expenditures and purchases.

Liquidity

Liquidity relates primarily to the Company’s ability to fund loan demand, meet deposit customers’ withdrawal requirements and provide for operating expenses. Sources used to satisfy these needs consist of cash and due from banks, interest-bearing deposits in other financial institutions, securities available-for-sale, loans held for sale and borrowings from various sources. These assets, excluding the borrowings, are commonly referred to as liquid assets. Liquid assets were $422.9 million at December 31, 2021, compared to $303.2 million at December 31, 2020.

The Company does not have material cash requirements for capital expenditures over the next year. Any cash needs for capital requirements would be funded by cash existing at the Company. It is not anticipated that the Company will be required to initiate external borrowings in order to fund ongoing operations.

The Company’s commercial real estate, first mortgage residential, agricultural and multi-family mortgage portfolio of $645.1 million at December 31, 2021, can and is readily used to collateralize borrowings, which is an additional source of liquidity. Management believes the Company’s current liquidity level, without these borrowings, is sufficient to meet its current and anticipated liquidity needs. At December 31, 2021, all eligible commercial real estate, residential first, multi-family mortgage and agricultural loans were pledged under a Federal Home Loan Bank (“FHLB”) blanket lien.

Significant additional off-balance-sheet liquidity is available in the form of FHLB advances, unused federal funds lines from correspondent banks and the national certificate of deposit market. Management expects the risk of changes in off-balance-sheet arrangements to be immaterial to earnings. Based on the current collateralization requirements of the FHLB, approximately $110.5 million of additional borrowing capacity existed at December 31, 2021.

At December 31, 2021 and 2020, the Company had $41.0 million in federal funds lines available. The Company also had $184.9 million in unpledged securities at December 31, 2021 available for additional borrowings.

The cash flow statements for the periods presented provide an indication of the Company’s sources and uses of cash as well as an indication of the ability of the Company to maintain an adequate level of liquidity. A discussion of the cash flow statements for 2021 and 2020 follows:

The Company experienced positive cash flows from

operating activities in 2021 and 2020. Net cash from operating activities was $17.3 million and $23.9 million for the years ended December

31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Significant operating items for 2021 included gain on sale of loans of $17.4 million and net income of

$18.3 million. Cash provided by the sale of loans held for sale were $490.6 million. Cash used in the origination of loans held for sale

were $478.1 million.

The Company experienced negative cash flows from investing activities in 2021 and 2020. Net cash used in investing activities was $72.0 million and $57.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. The changes for 2021 include the purchase of available-for-sale securities of $170.7 million, and net decrease in loans of $48.5 million. The changes for 2020 include the purchase of available-for-sale securities of $129.8 million and net increase in loans of $31.7 million. The Company had proceeds from repayments, maturities, sales and calls of securities of $50.5 million and $84.0 million in 2021 and 2020, respectively.

The Company experienced positive cash flows from financing activities in 2021 and 2020. Net cash from financing activities was $63.6 million and $146.9 million for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Positive cash flows of $64.0 million and $157.7 million is attributable to the change in deposits for 2021 and 2020, respectively.

The

Company uses an Economic Value of Equity (“EVE”) analysis to measure risk in the balance sheet incorporating all cash flows

over the estimated remaining life of all balance sheet positions. The EVE analysis calculates the net present value of the Company’s

assets and liabilities in rate shock environments that range from -100 basis points to +400 basis points. The results of this analysis

are reflected in the following table.

Economic Value of Equity

($ in thousands)

Change in rates $ Amount $ Change % Change

Economic Value of Equity

($ in thousands)

Change in rates $ Amount $ Change % Change

Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk.

Asset liability management involves developing, executing and monitoring strategies to maintain appropriate liquidity, maximize net interest income and minimize the impact that significant fluctuations in market interest rates would have on current and future earnings. The business of the Company and the composition of its balance sheet consist of investments in interest-earning assets (primarily loans, mortgage-backed securities, and securities available-for-sale) which are primarily funded by interest-bearing liabilities (deposits and borrowings). With the exception of specific loans which are originated and held for sale, all of the financial instruments of the Company are for other than trading purposes. All of the Company’s transactions are denominated in U.S. dollars with no specific foreign exchange exposure. In addition, the Company has limited exposure to commodity prices related to agricultural loans. The impact of changes in foreign exchange rates and commodity prices on interest rates are assumed to be insignificant. The Company’s financial instruments have varying levels of sensitivity to changes in market interest rates resulting in market risk. Interest rate risk is the Company’s primary market risk exposure; to a lesser extent, liquidity risk also impacts market risk exposure.

Interest rate risk is the exposure of a banking institution’s financial condition to adverse movements in interest rates. Accepting this risk can be an important source of profitability and shareholder value; however, excessive levels of interest rate risk could pose a significant threat to the Company’s earnings and capital base. Accordingly, effective risk management that maintains interest rate risks at prudent levels is essential to the Company’s safety and soundness.

Evaluating a financial institution’s exposure to changes in interest rates includes assessing both the adequacy of the management process used to control interest rate risk and the organization’s quantitative level of exposure. When assessing the interest rate risk management process, the Company seeks to ensure that appropriate policies, procedures, management information systems and internal controls are in place to maintain interest rate risks at prudent levels of consistency and continuity. Evaluating the quantitative level of interest rate risk exposure requires the Company to assess the existing and potential future effects of changes in interest rates on its consolidated financial condition, including capital adequacy, earnings, liquidity and asset quality (when appropriate).

The FRB together with the OCC and the FDIC adopted a Joint Agency Policy Statement on interest rate risk effective June 26, 1996. The policy statement provides guidance to examiners and bankers on sound practices for managing interest rate risk, which will form the basis for ongoing evaluation of the adequacy of interest rate risk management at supervised institutions. The policy statement also outlines fundamental elements of sound management that have been identified in prior Federal Reserve guidance and discusses the importance of these elements in the context of managing interest rate risk. Specifically, the guidance emphasizes the need for active board of director and senior management oversight and a comprehensive risk management process that effectively identifies, measures and controls interest rate risk.

Financial institutions derive their income primarily from the excess of interest collected over interest paid. The rates of interest an institution earns on its assets and owes on its liabilities generally are established contractually for a period of time. Since market interest rates change over time, an institution is exposed to lower profit margins (or losses) if it cannot adapt to interest rate changes. For example, assume that an institution’s assets carry intermediate or long-term fixed rates and that those assets are funded with short-term liabilities. If market interest rates rise by the time the short-term liabilities must be refinanced, the increase in the institution’s interest expense on its liabilities may not be sufficiently offset if assets continue to earn at the long-term fixed rates. Accordingly, an institution’s profits could decrease on existing assets because the institution will either have lower net interest income or possibly, net interest expense. Similar risks exist when assets are subject to contractual interest rate ceilings, or rate-sensitive assets are funded by longer-term, fixed-rate liabilities in a declining rate environment.

There are several ways an institution can manage interest rate risk including: 1) matching repricing periods for new assets and liabilities, for example, by shortening or lengthening terms of new loans, investments, or liabilities; 2) selling existing assets or repaying certain liabilities; and 3) hedging existing assets, liabilities, or anticipated transactions. An institution might also invest in more complex financial instruments intended to hedge or otherwise change interest rate risk. Interest rate swaps, futures contracts, options on futures contracts, and other such derivative financial instruments can be used for this purpose. Because these instruments are sensitive to interest rate changes, they require management’s expertise to be effective. The Company has not purchased derivative financial instruments in the past, but during 2021 and 2020 the Company entered into interest rate swap agreements as an accommodation to certain loan customers (see Note 10 to the Consolidated Financial Statements). The Company may purchase such instruments in the future if market conditions are favorable.

The Company manages its interest rate risk by the employment of strategies to assure that desired levels of both interest-earning assets and interest-bearing liabilities mature or reprice with similar time frames. Such strategies include: 1) loans receivable which are renewed (and repriced) annually, 2) variable rate loans, 3) certificates of deposit with terms from one month to six years, 4) securities available-for-sale which mature at various times primarily from one through ten years, 5) federal funds borrowings with terms of one day to 90 days, and 6) FHLB borrowings with terms of one day to ten years.

Management believes the most significant impact on financial results is the Company’s ability to react to changes in interest rates. Management seeks to maintain an essentially balanced position between interest sensitive assets and liabilities and actively manages loan, security, and liability maturities in order to protect against the effects of wide interest rate fluctuations on net income and shareholders’ equity.

Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.

Our Consolidated Financial Statements and notes thereto and other supplementary data follow.

Index to Consolidated Financial Statements

Page

Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2021 and 2020 F-2

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements F-7

F-1

SB Financial Group, Inc.

Consolidated Balance Sheets

at December 31,

Assets

Interest bearing time deposits 2,643 5,823

Federal Reserve and Federal Home Loan Bank Stock, at cost 5,303 5,303

Foreclosed assets and other assets held for sale, net 2,104 23

Liabilities and shareholders’ equity

Liabilities

Deposits

Federal Home Loan Bank advances 5,500 8,000

Subordinated debt net of issuance costs 19,546 -

Commitments & Contingent Liabilities - -

Shareholders’ Equity

Preferred stock, no par value;

Common stock, no par value;

Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) (1,845 ) 2,210

Treasury stock, at cost;

See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

F-2

SB Financial Group, Inc.

Consolidated Statements of Income

Years Ended December 31,

($ in thousands, except per share data) 2021 2020

Interest Income

Loans

Securities

Interest Expense

Repurchase agreements & other 42 70

Federal Home Loan Bank advance expense 188 309

Trust preferred securities expense 199 256

Subordinated debt expense 462 -

Net interest income after provision for loan losses 36,834 31,430

Noninterest Income

Gain on sale of mortgage loans & OMSR 17,255 25,350

Mortgage loan servicing fees, net 2,940 (5,138 )

Gain on sale of non-mortgage loans 158 453

Noninterest Expense

Telephone and communications 581 535

Postage and delivery expense 414 415

Basic earnings per common share $ 2.58 $ 1.96

Diluted earnings per common share $ 2.56 $ 1.96

See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

F-3

SB Financial Group, Inc.

Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income

Years Ended December 31,

Other comprehensive income

Available for sale investment securities:

Gross unrealized holding gain (loss) arising in the period (5,133 ) 1,963

Related tax expense (benefit) 1,078 (412 )

Net effect on other comprehensive income (loss) (4,055 ) 1,551

See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

F-4

SB Financial Group, Inc.

Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity

Years Ended December 31,

Additional Accumulated Other Comprehensive

Other comprehensive loss (4,055 ) (4,055 )

Restricted stock vesting (344 ) 344 -

Stock based compensation expense 443 443

Additional Accumulated Other Comprehensive

Restricted stock vesting (307 ) 307 -

Stock based compensation expense 382 382

See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

F-5

SB Financial Group, Inc.

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

Years Ended December 31,

Operating Activities

Items not requiring (providing) cash

Depreciation and amortization 2,262 1,937

Expense of share-based compensation plan 443 382

Amortization of premiums and discounts on securities 1,236 643

Amortization of intangible assets 71 46

Amortization of originated mortgage servicing rights 3,885 4,762

Impairment (recovery) of mortgage servicing rights (3,436 ) 3,586

Changes in

Interest payable & other liabilities (6,743 ) 6,618

Net cash provided by operating activities 17,257 23,907

Investing Activities

Purchases of available-for-sale securities (170,694 ) (129,796 )

Proceeds from maturities of interest bearing time deposits 3,180 5,719

Proceeds from maturities of available-for-sale securities 50,471 84,021

Purchase of premises, equipment (2,427 ) (1,980 )

Proceeds from sales of premises, equipment - 301

Purchase of bank owned life insurance (50 ) -

Purchase of Federal Reserve and Federal Home Loan Bank Stock - (538 )

Proceeds from sale of foreclosed assets 129 500

Acquisition, net of cash acquired (paid) (1,100 ) 16,263

Net cash used in investing activities (71,988 ) (57,216 )

Financing Activities

Net increase (decrease) in time deposits (73,045 ) (37,762 )

Repayment of Federal Home Loan Bank advances (2,500 ) (8,000 )

Net proceeds from subordinated debt 19,546 -

Net proceeds from share-based compensation plans - 188

Dividends on common shares (3,139 ) (3,070 )

Net cash provided by financing activities 63,552 146,935

Increase in cash and cash equivalents 8,821 113,626

Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of year 140,690 27,064

Supplemental cash flow information

Supplemental non-cash disclosure

Recognition of right-of-use lease assets $ 318 $ 248

Transfer of loans to foreclosed assets $ 1,687 $ 207

In conjunction with the Edon acquisition, liabilities assumed were:

Fair value of assets acquired $ - $ 66,769

Cash paid in acquisition - (15,493 )

Liabilities assumed $ - $ 51,276

See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

F-6

SB Financial Group, Inc.

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

Years Ended December 31, 2021 and 2020

Note 1: Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Organization and Nature of Operations

SB Financial Group, Inc. (the “Company”) is a financial holding company whose principal activity is the ownership and management of its wholly-owned subsidiaries, The State Bank and Trust Company (“State Bank”), SBFG Title, LLC dba Peak Title Agency (“SBFG Title”), SB Captive, Inc. (“SB Captive”), RFCBC, Inc. (“RFCBC”), Rurbanc Data Services, Inc. dba RDSI Banking Systems (“RDSI”), and Rurban Statutory Trust II (“RST II”). State Bank owns all the outstanding stock of Rurban Mortgage Company (“RMC”), and State Bank Insurance, LLC (“SBI”). The Company is primarily engaged in providing a full range of banking and wealth management services to individual and corporate customers primarily located in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan. The Company is subject to competition from other financial institutions, and regulated by certain federal and state agencies and undergoes periodic examinations by those regulatory authorities.

Principles of Consolidation

The Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of the Company, State Bank, SBFG Title, SB Captive, RFCBC, RDSI, RMC, RST II, and SBI. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions were eliminated in consolidation.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Material estimates that are particularly susceptible to significant change relate to the determination of the allowance for loan losses, loan servicing rights, and fair value of financial instruments.

Cash Equivalents

The Company considers all liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less to be cash equivalents. At December 31, 2021 and 2020, cash equivalents consisted primarily of interest-bearing and noninterest bearing demand deposit balances held by correspondent banks.

At December 31, 2021, the Company’s correspondent cash accounts exceeded federally insured limits by $7.9 million. Additionally, the Company had approximately $129.1 million of cash held by the FRB and the FHLB, which is not federally insured.

Securities

Available-for-sale securities, which include any debt security for which the Company has no immediate plan to sell but which may be sold in the future, are carried at fair value. Unrealized gains and losses are recorded, net of related income tax effects, in other comprehensive income.

Amortization of premiums and accretion of discounts are recorded as interest income from securities. Realized gains and losses are recorded as net security gains (losses). Gains and losses on sales of securities are determined on the specific-identification method.

For debt securities with fair value below carrying value when the Company does not intend to sell the debt security, and it is more likely than not the Company will not have to sell the security before recovery of its cost basis, the Company recognizes the credit component of an other-than-temporary impairment of the debt security in earnings and the remaining portion in other comprehensive income.

F-7

Mortgage Loans Held for Sale

Mortgage loans originated and intended for sale in the secondary market are carried at the lower of cost or fair value in the aggregate. Net unrealized losses, if any, are recognized through a valuation allowance by charges to noninterest income. Gains and losses on loan sales are recorded in noninterest income. The Company utilizes third-party hedges to minimize the impact of interest rate risk fluctuations, and their impact is realized through noninterest income.

Loans

Loans that management has the intent and ability to hold for the foreseeable future, or until maturity or payoffs, are reported at their outstanding principal balances adjusted for any charge offs, the allowance for loan losses, any deferred fees or costs on originated loans and unamortized premiums or discounts on purchased loans. Interest income is reported on the interest method and includes amortization of net deferred loan fees and costs over the loan term. Generally, loans are placed on nonaccrual status not later than 90 days past due. Past due status is based on the contractual terms of the loan. All interest accrued, but not collected for loans that are placed on nonaccrual or charged off, is reversed against interest income. The interest on these loans is accounted for on the cash-basis or cost-recovery method, until qualifying for return to accrual. Loans are returned to accrual status when all the principal and interest amounts contractually due are brought current and future payments are reasonably assured.

Allowance for Loan Losses

The allowance for loan losses is established as losses are estimated to have occurred through a provision for loan losses charged to income. Loan losses are charged against the allowance when management believes the non-collectability of a loan balance is probable. Subsequent recoveries, if any, are credited to the allowance.

The allowance for loan losses is evaluated on a regular basis by management and is based upon management’s periodic review of the collectability of the loans in light of historical experience, the nature and volume of the loan portfolio, adverse situations that may affect the borrower’s ability to repay, estimated value of any underlying collateral and prevailing economic conditions. This evaluation is inherently subjective as it requires estimates that are susceptible to significant revision as new information becomes available.

The allowance consists of allocated and general components. The allocated component relates to loans that are classified as impaired. For those loans that are classified as impaired, an allowance is established when the discounted cash flows (or collateral value or observable market price) of the impaired loan is lower than the carrying value of that loan. The general component covers non-classified loans and is based on historical charge off experience and expected loss given default derived from the Company’s internal risk rating process. Other adjustments may be made to the allowance for pools of loans after an assessment of internal or external influences on credit quality that are not fully reflected on the historical loss or risk rating data.

A loan is considered impaired when, based on current information and events, it is probable that the Company will be unable to collect the scheduled payments of principal or interest when due according to the contractual terms of the loan agreement. Factors considered by management in determining impairment include payment status, collateral value and the probability of collecting scheduled principal and interest payments when due. Loans that experience insignificant payment delays and payment shortfalls generally are not classified as impaired. Management determines the significance of payment delays and payment shortfalls on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration each of the circumstances surrounding the loan and the borrower, including the length of the delay, the reasons for the delay, the borrower’s prior payment record and the amount of the shortfall in relation to the principal and interest owed. Impairment is measured on a loan-by-loan basis for commercial, agricultural, and construction loans by either the present value of expected future cash flows discounted at the loan’s effective interest rate, the loan’s obtainable market price or the fair value of the collateral if the loan is collateral dependent.

When a loan moves to nonaccrual status, total unpaid interest accrued to date is reversed from income. Subsequent payments are applied to the outstanding principal balance with the interest portion of the payment recorded on the balance sheet as a contra-loan. Interest received on impaired loans may be realized once all contractual principal amounts are received or when a borrower establishes a history of six consecutive timely principal and interest payments. It is at the discretion of management to determine when a loan is placed back on accrual status upon receipt of six consecutive timely payments.

Large groups of smaller balance homogenous loans are collectively evaluated for impairment. Accordingly, individual consumer and residential loans are not separately identified for impairment measurements, unless such loans are the subject of a restructuring agreement due to financial difficulties of the borrower.

F-8

Premises and Equipment

Depreciable assets are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation. Depreciation is charged to expense using the straight-line method for buildings and equipment over the estimated useful lives of the assets. Leasehold improvements are capitalized and depreciated using the straight-line method over the terms of the respective leases.

Long-lived Asset Impairment

The Company evaluates the recoverability of the carrying value of long-lived assets whenever events or circumstances indicate the carrying amount may not be recoverable. If a long-lived asset is tested for recoverability and the undiscounted estimated future cash flows expected to result from the use and eventual disposition of the asset is less than the carrying amount of the asset, the asset’s cost is adjusted to fair value and an impairment loss is recognized as the amount by which the carrying amount of a long-lived asset exceeds its fair value.

Federal Reserve Bank and Federal Home Loan Bank Stock

FRB and FHLB stock are required investments for institutions that are members of the FRB and FHLB systems. The required investment in the common stock is based on a predetermined formula, carried at cost and evaluated for impairment.

Foreclosed Assets and Other Assets Held for Sale

Assets acquired through, or in lieu of, loan foreclosure are held for sale and are initially recorded at fair value less costs to sell at the date of foreclosure, establishing a new cost basis. Subsequent to foreclosure, valuations are periodically performed by management and the assets are carried at the lower of the carrying amount or the fair value less cost to sell. Revenue and expenses from operations related to foreclosed assets and changes in the valuation allowance are included in net income or expense from foreclosed assets. The Company has a vacant lot in our Columbus region that was acquired for the construction of our Columbus office location in 2014. Due to an agreement in principle to sell the vacant lot, the Company has reclassified the asset into held for sale.

Goodwill

Goodwill is tested for impairment annually. If the implied fair value of goodwill is lower than its carrying amount, goodwill impairment is indicated and goodwill is written down to its implied fair value.

Core Deposits and Other Intangibles

Intangible assets are being amortized on a straight-line basis over weighted-average periods ranging from one to fifteen years. Such assets are periodically evaluated as to the recoverability of their carrying value. Purchased software is being amortized using the straight-line method over periods ranging from one to three years.

Derivatives

The Company utilizes derivative financial instruments to help manage exposure to interest rate risk and the effects that changes in interest rates may have on net income and the fair value of assets and liabilities. The Company enters into interest rate swap agreements as part of its asset liability management strategy to help manage its interest rate risk position. Additionally, the Company enters into forward contracts for the future delivery of mortgage loans to third-party investors and enters into interest rate lock commitments (“IRLCs”) with potential borrowers to fund specific mortgage loans that will be sold into the secondary market. The forward contracts are entered into in order to economically hedge the effect of changes in interest rates resulting from the Company’s commitment to fund the loans.

The IRLCs and forward contracts are not designated as accounting hedges and are recorded at fair value with the changes in fair value reflected in noninterest income on the consolidated statements of income. The fair value of derivative instruments with a positive fair value are reported in accrued income and other assets in the consolidated balance sheets, while the derivative instruments with a negative fair value are reported in accrued expenses and other liabilities in the consolidated balance sheets.

For exchange-traded contracts, fair value is based on quoted market prices. For non-exchange traded contracts, fair value is based on dealer quotes, pricing models, discounted cash flow methodologies or similar techniques for which the determination of fair value may require significant management judgment or estimation.

F-9

Mortgage Servicing Rights

Mortgage servicing assets are recognized separately when rights are acquired through purchase or through sale of financial assets. Under the servicing assets and liabilities accounting guidance, (Accounting Standards Codification “ASC” 806-50), servicing rights from the sale or securitization of loans originated by the Company are initially measured at fair value at the date of transfer. The Company subsequently measures each class of servicing asset using the amortization method. Under the amortization method, servicing rights are amortized in proportion to and over the period of estimated net servicing income. The amortized assets are assessed for impairment based on fair value at each reporting date.

Fair value is based on market prices for comparable mortgage servicing contracts, when available, or alternatively, is based on a valuation model that calculates the present value of estimated future net servicing income. The valuation model incorporates assumptions that market participants would use in estimating future net servicing income, such as the cost of service, the discount rate, the custodial earning rate, an inflation rate, ancillary income, prepayment speeds and default rates and losses. These variables change from quarter to quarter as market conditions and projected interest rates change, and may have an adverse impact on the value of the mortgage servicing right and may result in a reduction to noninterest income.

Each class of separately recognized servicing assets subsequently measured using the amortization method is evaluated and measured for impairment. Impairment is determined by stratifying rights into tranches based on predominant characteristics, such as interest rate, loan type and investor type. Impairment is recognized through a valuation allowance for an individual tranche, to the extent that fair value is less than the carrying amount of the servicing assets for that tranche. The valuation allowance is adjusted to reflect changes in the measurement of impairment after the initial measurement of impairment. Changes in valuation allowances are reported with “Mortgage loan servicing fees, net” in the income statement. Fair value in excess of the carrying amount of servicing assets for that stratum is not recognized.

Servicing fee income is recorded for fees earned for servicing loans. The fees are based on a contractual percentage of the outstanding principal or a fixed amount per loan and are recorded as income when earned. The amortization of mortgage servicing rights is netted against loan servicing fee income.

Share-Based Employee Compensation Plan

At December 31, 2021 and 2020, the Company had a share-based employee compensation plan (see Note 20 to the Consolidated Financial Statements).

Transfers of Financial Assets

Transfers of financial assets are accounted for as sales, when control over the assets has been surrendered. Control over transferred assets is deemed to be surrendered when (1) the assets have been isolated from the Company – put presumptively beyond the reach of the transferor and its creditors, even in bankruptcy or other receivership, (2) the transferee obtains the right (free of conditions that constrain it from taking advantage of that right) to pledge or exchange the transferred assets and (3) the Company does not maintain effective control over the transferred assets through an agreement to repurchase them before the maturity or the ability to unilaterally cause the holder to return specific assets.

Income Taxes

The Company accounts for income taxes in accordance with income tax accounting guidance (ASC 740). The income tax accounting guidance results in two components of income tax expense: current and deferred. Current income tax expense reflects taxes to be paid or refunded for the current period by applying the provisions of the enacted tax law to the taxable income or excess of deductions over revenues. The Company determines deferred income taxes using the liability (or balance sheet) method. Under this method, the net deferred tax asset or liability is based on the tax effects of the differences between the book and tax bases of assets and liabilities, and enacted changes in tax rates and laws are recognized in the period in which they occur. Deferred income tax expense results from changes in deferred tax assets and liabilities between periods. Deferred tax assets are reduced by a valuation allowance if, based on the weight of evidence available, it is more likely than not that some portion or all of a deferred tax asset will not be realized.

Uncertain tax positions are recognized if it is more likely than not, based on the technical merits, that the tax position will be realized or sustained upon examination. The term more likely than not means a likelihood of more than 50 percent; the term “upon examination” also includes resolution of the related appeals or litigation processes, if any. A tax position that meets the more-likely-than-not recognition threshold is initially and subsequently measured as the largest amount of tax benefit that has a greater than 50 percent likelihood of being realized upon settlement with a taxing authority that has full knowledge of all relevant information. The determination of whether or not a tax position has met the more-likely-than-not recognition threshold considers the facts, circumstances and information available at the reporting date and is subject to management’s judgment.

F-10

The Company recognizes interest and penalties on income taxes as a component of income tax expense.

The Company files consolidated income tax returns with its subsidiaries. With a few exceptions, the Company is no longer subject to U.S. Federal, State and Local examinations by tax authorities for the years before 2018. As of December 31, 2021, the Company had no uncertain income tax positions.

Treasury Shares

Treasury stock is stated at cost. Cost is determined by the weighted-average cost method.

Earnings Per Share

Earnings per common share is computed using the two-class method. Basic earnings per share represent income available to common shareholders divided by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding during each period. Diluted earnings per share reflect additional potential common shares that may be issued by the Company related solely to outstanding stock options or awards which are determined using the treasury stock method. Treasury stock shares are not deemed outstanding for earnings per share calculations.

Comprehensive Income

Comprehensive income consists of net income and other comprehensive income, net of applicable income taxes. Other comprehensive income includes unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on available-for-sale securities. AOCI consists solely of the cumulative unrealized gains and losses on available-for-sale securities net of income tax.

Subordinated Debt

At December 31, 2021, the Company had subordinated debt obligations of $20.0 million related to its 3.65% Fixed to Floating Rate Subordinated Notes due 2031, which were issued and sold by the Company on May 27, 2021. The Subordinated Notes were issued in order to assist the Company in meeting various corporate obligations, including share buybacks, acquisition costs and organic asset growth (see Note 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements).

Revenue Recognition

The Company recognizes revenues as they are earned based on contractual terms, as transactions occur, or services are provided and collectability is reasonably assured. The Company’s principal source of revenue is interest income from loans and leases and investment securities. The Company also earns noninterest income from various banking and financial services offered through State Bank.

Interest income is the largest source of revenue for the Company which is primarily recognized on an accrual basis.

Noninterest income is earned through a variety of financial and transaction services provided to corporate and consumer clients such as trust and wealth advisory, deposit account, debit card, mortgage banking and insurance.

New and applicable accounting pronouncements:

ASU No. 2020-01: Investments – Equity Securities (Topic 321), Investments – Equity Method and Joint Ventures (Topic 323), and Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815) – Clarifying the Interactions between Topic 321, Topic 323 and Topic 815

This guidance was issued in January 2020 to clarify that a company should consider observable transactions that require a company to either apply or discontinue the equity method of accounting under Topic 323, Investments-Equity Method and Joint Ventures, for the purposes of applying the measurement alternative in accordance with Topic 321 immediately before applying or upon discontinuing the equity method. The amendments also clarify that when determining the accounting for certain forward contracts and purchased options a company should not consider, whether upon settlement or exercise, if the underlying securities would be accounted for under the equity method or fair value option. The guidance is effective beginning after December 15, 2020. The impact of this new guidance did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

F-11

Accounting standards not yet adopted:

ASU No. 2020-04: Reference Rate Reform – Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting (Topic 848)

This guidance provides temporary options to ease the potential burden in accounting for reference rate reform. It is intended to help stakeholders during the global market-wide reference rate transition period. The guidance is effective as of March 12, 2020 through December 31, 2022. The Company anticipates being fully prepared to implement a replacement for the reference rate and has determined that any change will not have a material impact to the consolidated financial statements.

ASU No. 2016-13: Financial Instruments – Credit Losses (Topic 326)

This ASU, which is commonly known as CECL, replaces the current GAAP incurred impairment methodology regarding credit losses with a methodology that reflects expected credit losses and requires consideration of a broader range of reasonable and supportable information to inform credit loss estimates. The amendments in this update affect an entity to varying degrees depending on the credit quality of the assets held by the entity, their duration, and how the entity applies current GAAP.

The adoption of ASU 2016-13 has the potential

to result in an increase in the allowance for loan losses as a result of changing from an “incurred loss” model, which encompasses

allowances for current known and inherent losses within the portfolio, to an “expected loss” model, which encompasses allowances

for losses expected to be incurred over the life of the portfolio. Furthermore, ASU 2016-13 will necessitate that we establish an allowance

for expected credit losses on debt securities.

The Company will continue to estimate

the impact of adopting ASU 2016-13 throughout 2022. We expect the final adoption of the standard will not have a material impact on the

Company’s consolidated financial statements. We expect to be fully prepared for implementation by January 1, 2023.

F-12

Note 2: Earnings Per Share

Earnings per common share (“EPS”) is computed using the two-class method. Basic earnings per common share is computed by dividing net income available to common shareholders by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding during the applicable period, excluding participating securities. Participating securities include non-vested restricted stock awards. Non-vested restricted stock awards are considered participating securities to the extent the holders of these securities receive non-forfeitable dividends at the same rate as holders of common shares. Diluted earnings per common share is computed using the weighted-average number of shares determined for the basic earnings per common share plus the dilutive effect of stock compensation using the treasury stock method. EPS for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 is computed as follows:

Twelve Months Ended Dec. 31,

($ and outstanding shares in thousands - except per share data) 2021 2020

Distributed earnings allocated to common shares $ 3,139 $ 3,070

Undistributed earnings allocated to common shares 15,117 11,858

Net earnings allocated to common shares 18,256 14,928

Net earnings allocated to participating securities 21 16

SBFG US Equity

SBFG · 10-K · period ended 2021-12-31

Item 1A. Risk Factors.

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.

Item 2. Properties.

Item 3. Legal Proceedings.

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.

Item 6. [Reserved].

Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk.

Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.

SBFG US Equity☆

SBFG · 10-K · period ended 2021-12-31

Item 1A. Risk Factors.

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.

Item 2. Properties.

Item 3. Legal Proceedings.

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.

Item 6. [Reserved].

Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk.

Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.

SBFG US Equity