MutualFirst Announces Second Quarter 2007 Earnings

Friday, July 20, 2007

Muncie, Indiana - MutualFirst Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: MFSF), the holding company of Mutual Federal Savings Bank (the "Bank"), announced today that net income for the second quarter ended June 30, 2007 was $1.1 million, or $.27 for basic and diluted earnings per share. This compared to net income for the comparable period in 2006 of $1.3 million, or $.32 for basic and $.31 for diluted earnings per share. Annualized return on assets was .48% and return on tangible equity was 6.24% for the second quarter of 2007 compared to .56% and 7.18% respectively, for the same period last year. On a linked quarter basis, second quarter 2007 basic and diluted earnings per share increased $.02, or 8% when compared to the first quarter 2007. "We continue to face a difficult operating environment; however, we are focused on activities that can improve our performance," said David Heeter, Chief Executive Officer.

Net income for the six months ended June 30, 2007 was $2.2 million or $.53 for basic and $.52 for diluted earnings per share. This compared to net income for the comparable period in 2006 of $2.9 million or $.68 for basic and $.67 for diluted earnings per share. Annualized return on average assets was .46% and return on average tangible equity was 6.01% for the first half of 2007 compared to .60% and 7.75% respectively, for the same period last year.

The comparative reduction of income for the three and six month periods was primarily due to shrinking net interest margin and a reduction in earning assets as discussed below. The increase in net interest margin over the last two consecutive quarters is also discussed below.

Assets totaled $948.7 million at June 30, 2007, a decrease from December 31, 2006 of $12.2 million, or 1.3%. Loans, excluding loans held for sale, decreased $10.4 million or 1.3%. Consumer loans increased $941,000, or .4%, while commercial loans decreased $5.1 million, or 3.5%, and residential mortgage loans held in the portfolio decreased $6.1 million, furthering our strategy to reduce the percentage of fixed rate real estate mortgage loans to total loans. Mortgage loans held for sale decreased $329,000 and mortgage loans sold during the first half of 2007 totaled $12.1 million. The decreased loan balances are due primarily to prepayments exceeding slower than projected production. CEO Heeter commented, "Our loan pipeline is strong and we expect those loans to fund over the remainder of the year." Investment securities available for sale decreased $1.5 million, or 3.5%, compared to December 31, 2006.

Allowance for loan losses increased $122,000 to $8.3 million when comparing December 31, 2006 to June 30, 2007. Net charge offs for the first half of 2007 were $744,000 or .18% of average loans on an annualized basis compared to $841,000, or .20% of average loans for the comparable period in 2006. The decrease was primarily due to a recovery of $196,000 for previously charged off commercial leases during the 2007 period. As of June 30, 2007 the allowance for loan losses as a percentage of loans receivable and non-performing loans was 1.03% and 169.16%, respectively, compared to 1.00% and 143.59%, respectively, at December 31, 2006.

Total deposits were $690.9 million at June 30, 2007, a decrease from $703.4 at December 31, 2006. This decrease was due primarily to decreases in wholesale deposits of $14.7 million and retail certificates of deposit of $5.3 million. Consistent with our strategy, these decreases were partially offset by increases in core demand, money market and savings deposits of $7.6 million. Total borrowings decreased $3.0 million to $155.8 million at June 30, 2007 from $158.9 million at December 31, 2006.

Stockholders' equity increased $402,000, or .5%, from $87.3 million at December 31, 2006, to $87.7 million at June 30, 2007. The increase was due primarily to net income of $2.2 million, Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) and RRP shares earned of $321,000 and exercised stock options of $87,000. This increase was partially offset by the repurchase of 43,000 shares of common stock for $854,000 and dividend payments of $1.3 million. Also, the market value of securities available for sale compared to their book value decreased $25,000 from a loss of $355,000 at December 31, 2006 to a loss of $380,000 at June 30, 2007.

Net interest income before the provision for loan losses decreased $638,000 from $6.8 million for the three months ended June 30, 2006 to $6.1 million for the three months ended June 30, 2007. The reasons for the decrease were a $25.8 million, or 2.9%, decrease in average interest earning assets and a 20 basis point decrease in the net interest margin reflecting the Bank's liability sensitive nature. The reduction in average interest earning assets was due primarily to a restructuring of the balance sheet in the fourth quarter of 2006 and decreased loan balances during the first half of 2007. On a linked quarter basis, net interest margin increased to 2.85% for the three months ended June 30, 2007 compared to 2.79% for the three months ended March 31, 2007. This is the second consecutive quarter net interest margin has increased due primarily to the restructuring of the balance sheet in the fourth quarter 2006 and a flattening of deposit repricing during the first two quarters of 2007.

Net interest income before the provision for loan losses decreased $1.7 million for the six months ended June 30, 2007 compared to the six months ended June 30, 2006. The reasons for the decrease were similar to those stated above. Average interest earning assets decreased $21.8 million, or 2.5% and the net interest margin decreased by 31 basis points from 3.13% for the six months ended June 30, 2006 to 2.82% for the same period in 2007.

The provision for loan losses for the second quarter of 2007 was $533,000, compared to $525,000 for last year's comparable period. Non-performing loans to total loans at June 30, 2007 were .61% compared to .79% at June 30, 2006. Non-performing assets to total assets were .80% at June 30, 2007 compared to .90% at June 30, 2006.

Non-interest income increased $277,000 to $2.0 million, or 16.5%, for the three months ended June 30, 2007 compared to the same period in 2006. The increase was due primarily to increases in service fees on transaction accounts of $133,000, or 11.9%, increases in commission income of $90,000, or 58.4%, and improved earnings on cash surrender value of life insurance of $50,000, or 18.7%. On a linked quarter basis, non-interest income increased $221,000, or 12.8%. This increase was due primarily to increases in service fees on transaction accounts of $182,000 and increases in commission income of $47,000.

For the six month period ended June 30, 2007 non-interest income increased $348,000, or 10.4%, to $3.7 million compared to $3.3 million for the same period in 2006. The reasons are similar to those mentioned above.

Non-interest expense remained flat at $6.2 million for the three months ended June 30, 2007 compared to the same period in 2006. Increases in current quarter non-interest expense compared to the same period in 2006 include increases in data processing expense of $84,000 due primarily to technological upgrades, increases in occupancy expense of $32,000 and increases in salaries and employee benefits of $28,000. These increases were offset by decreases in marketing expense of $69,000, professional fees of $56,000 and other expenses of $36,000. On a linked quarter basis non-interest expense was flat at $6.2 million. Heeter added, "Our staff continues to be diligent in effectively managing our expenses in this difficult environment."

Non-interest expense remained flat at $12.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2007 compared to the same period in 2006.

Income tax expense decreased $134,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2007 compared to the same period in 2006 due primarily to less taxable income. The effective tax rate also decreased from 20.0% to 15.2% due to an increased percentage of low income housing tax credits to taxable income when comparing the second quarter of 2007 to the second quarter of 2006, respectively.

For the six-month period ended June 30, 2007, income tax expense decreased $520,000 compared to the same period in 2006. The decrease was due primarily to decreased taxable income. The effective tax rate also decreased from 22.7% to 13.4% due to an increased percentage of low income housing tax credits to taxable income when comparing the first half of 2007 to the first half of 2006, respectively.

MutualFirst Financial, Inc. and Mutual Federal Savings Bank are headquartered in Muncie, Indiana with twenty-one full service offices in Delaware, Grant, Kosciusko, Randolph, and Wabash counties.

Statements contained in this release, which are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements, as that term is defined in the Private Securities Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors, which include, but are not limited to changes in interest rates; the loss of deposits and loan demand to competitors; substantial changes in financial markets; changes in real estate values and the real estate market; or regulatory changes.