Exhibit 99.1.

FINWARD BANCORP

ANNOUNCES EARNINGS FOR THE QUARTER AND NINE MONTHS ENDED

SEPTEMBER 30, 2022

Munster, Indiana - Finward Bancorp (Nasdaq: FNWD) (the “Bancorp”), the holding company for Peoples Bank (the “Bank”), today announced that net income available to common stockholders was $11.1 million, or $2.67 per diluted share, for the nine months ended September 30, 2022, as compared to $11.7 million, or $3.35 per diluted share, for the corresponding prior year period. For the quarter ended September 30, 2022, the Bancorp’s net income totaled $4.6 million, or $1.07 per diluted share, as compared to $3.5 million, or $1.02 per diluted share, for the quarter ending September 30, 2021. Selected performance metrics are as follows for the periods presented:

Core net income for the nine months ended September 30, 2022, amounted to $12.7 million, or $3.04 per diluted share, compared to $10.5 million, or $3.03 per diluted share for the nine months ended September 30, 2021. Core net income for the quarter ended September 30, 2022, amounted to $4.7 million, or $1.10 per diluted share, compared to $3.1 million, or $0.88 per diluted share for the quarter ended September 30, 2021. Core net income is a non-GAAP measure. For the periods presented, the core net income measure excludes merger related expenses, net (gain) loss on securities, net loss recognized on the sale of premises and equipment, core deposit accretion, certificate of deposit purchase premium amortization, purchase discount amortization, and related tax benefit/(cost). Selected non-GAAP performance metrics are as follows for the periods presented:

Refer to “Disclosure Regarding Non-GAAP Measures” and the “Reconciliation of the Non-GAAP Performance Ratios” table below for additional information regarding our non-GAAP measures and impact per period by operation.

Highlights of the year-to-date period include:

“During the quarter, we continued to improve our core net income and managed our net interest margin to new highs on the year, while making progress in rebalancing our earning assets. Changes in consumer demand for fixed-rate mortgages has slowed our ability to generate gains from the sales of loans; however, we continue to grow our residential real estate loan portfolio. Cashflows from our securities portfolio, along with securities sales in a volatile market and growth in core deposits, have supported strong commercial loan growth with commercial real estate loans increasing by 8.4% year-to-date. We are actively managing our expense base to achieve greater economies of scale and continue to perform at levels that accrete capital and allow for the ongoing investments in the digital transformation process for Peoples Bank and Finward Bancorp,” said Benjamin Bochnowski, president and chief executive officer. “With economic conditions in mind, we are focused on running the bank efficiently, managing credit and underwriting, and continuing to rebalance our securities portfolio in order to recoup unrealized losses back into tangible book value.”

Net Interest Income

Net interest income was $50.3 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022, an increase of $14.2 million (39.4%), compared to $36.1 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2021. The Bancorp’s net interest margin on a tax-adjusted basis was 3.75% for the nine months ended September 30, 2022, compared to 3.49% for the nine months ended September 30, 2021.

Net interest income was $17.5 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2022, an increase of $5.4 million (43.5%), compared to $12.2 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2021. The Bancorp’s net interest margin was 3.67% for the quarter ended September 30, 2022, compared to 3.24% for the quarter ended September 30, 2021. The Bancorp’s net interest margin on a tax-adjusted basis was 3.84% for the quarter ended September 30, 2022, compared to 3.46% for the quarter ended September 30, 2021. The increased net interest income and net interest margin for the quarter and the nine months was primarily the result of the increased earning assets acquired through the Royal acquisition, the reallocation of securities cashflows into organic loan growth, and managing interest expense.

Noninterest Income

The increase in fees and service charges, for the quarter and the year-to-date periods, is primarily the result of the acquisition of Royal and the resultant increase in our customer base. The decrease in wealth management operations, for the quarter and the year-to-date periods, is result of lower fee income year over year due to market conditions. The decrease in gain on sale of loans, for the quarter and the year-to-date periods, is the result of significant refinance activity which started in 2020 and continued into 2021 due to the economic and low-rate environment, which resulted in more loans originated and sold. We expect demand for fixed rate mortgage loans held-for-sale in the secondary market to be lower as borrowing rates on loans increase. The decrease in gains on the sale of securities, for the quarter and the year-to-date periods, is a result of current market conditions and actively repositioning the portfolio.

Noninterest Expense

The increase in compensation and benefits, for the quarter and year-to-date periods, is primarily the result of the Royal acquisition, management’s continued focus on talent management, and wage inflation. The increase in occupancy and equipment expense, for the quarter and the year-to-date periods, is primarily related to the Royal acquisition and higher operating costs. Marketing expenses, for the quarter and the year-to-date periods, have increased to enhance brand recognition in new markets and gain more wallet share. The increase in federal deposit insurance premiums, for the quarter and the year-to-date periods, is primarily the result of growth of the bank’s average assets. The increase in data processing expense for the nine-month period ending September 30, 2022, is primarily the result of data conversion expenses related to the acquisition of Royal, increased system utilization due to growth of the Bank, and continued investment in technological advancements such as Salesforce and nCino. The increase in data processing expense for the quarter ending September 30, 2022, is due to increased system utilization due to growth of the Bank, and continued investment in technological advancements such as Salesforce and nCino. The increase in net loss recognized on sale of premises and equipment, for the quarter and year-to-date periods, is the result of the sale of a branch to reduce future fixed costs, allowing for redeployment of a portion of occupancy expenses into building a digital-forward foundation so that Finward can better serve its customers. The increase in other operating expenses for the nine-month period ending September 30, 2022, is primarily the result of one-time expenses related to the acquisition of Royal, continued investments in strategic initiatives focusing on growth of the organization, and inflationary pressures. The decrease in other operating expenses for the quarter ending September 30, 2022, is primarily due to lower utilization of outside consultants related to bank initiatives during the quarter.

Income Tax Expense

The provision for income taxes was $1.4 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022, as compared to $1.4 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2021. The effective tax rate was 11.4% for the nine months ended September 30, 2022, as compared to 10.8% for the nine months ended September 30, 2021. The provision for income taxes was $571 thousand for the quarter ended September 30, 2022, as compared to $268 thousand for the quarter ended September 30, 2021. The effective tax rate was 11.1% for the quarter ended September 30, 2022, as compared to 7.0% for the quarter ended September 30, 2021. The Bancorp’s higher current effective tax rate, for the quarter and year-to-date periods, is a result of higher earnings relative to tax preferred income.

Lending

The Bancorp’s loan portfolio totaled $1.5 billion on September 30, 2022, compared to $966.7 million on December 31, 2021, an increase of $536.0 million or 55.4%. The increase is primarily the result of the Royal acquisition, as well as organic loan portfolio growth. During the first nine months of 2022 the Bancorp originated $296.8 million in new commercial loans, compared to $258.1 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2021. During the nine months ended September 30, 2022, the Bancorp originated $40.8 million in new fixed rate mortgage loans for sale, compared to $120.1 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2021. During the nine months ended September 30, 2022, the Bancorp originated $78.8 million in new mortgage loans retained in its portfolio, compared to $34.7 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2021. The loan portfolio represents 79.9% of earning assets and is comprised of 62.6% commercial related credits.

Asset Quality

At September 30, 2022, non-performing loans totaled $10.9 million, compared to $7.3 million at December 31, 2021, an increase of $3.7 million or 50.5%. The Bancorp’s ratio of non-performing loans to total loans was 0.73% at September 30, 2022, compared to 0.76% at December 31, 2021. The Bancorp’s ratio of non-performing assets to total assets was 0.58% at September 30, 2022, compared to 0.51% at December 31, 2021.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2022, no provisions to the ALL were required, compared to $1.2 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2021, a decrease of $1.2 million. For the quarter ended September 30, 2022, no provisions to the ALL were required, compared to $139 thousand for the quarter ended September 30, 2021, a decrease of $139 thousand. For the nine months ended September 30, 2022, recoveries, net of charge-offs, totaled $56 thousand. For the quarter ended September 30, 2022, charge-offs, net of recoveries, totaled $7 thousand. At September 30, 2022, the allowance for loan losses totaled $13.4 million and is considered adequate by management. The allowance for loan losses as a percentage of total loans was 0.89% at September 30, 2022, compared to 1.38% at December 31, 2021. The allowance for loan losses as a percentage of non-performing loans, or coverage ratio, was 122.6% at September 30, 2022, compared to 183.8% at December 31, 2021.

Management also considers reserves that are not part of the ALL that have been established from acquisition activity. The Bancorp acquired loans for which there was evidence of credit quality deterioration since origination, and it was determined that it was probable that the Bancorp would be unable to collect all contractually required principal and interest payments. Additionally, the Bancorp has acquired loans where there was no evidence of credit quality deterioration since origination and has marked these loans to their fair values. When these additional reserves are included on a non-GAAP basis, the allowance for loan losses as a percentage of total loans was 1.40% at September 30, 2022, and the allowance for loan losses as a percentage of non-performing loans, or coverage ratio, was 193.2% at September 30, 2022. See Table 1 below for a reconciliation of these non-GAAP figures to the Bancorp’s GAAP figures.

Investing

The Bancorp’s securities portfolio totaled $359.0 million at September 30, 2022, compared to $526.9 million at December 31, 2021, a decrease of $167.9 million or 31.9%. The decrease is attributable to increased unrealized losses within the portfolio and the use of cashflows from the securities portfolio to fund loan growth. The securities portfolio represents 19.1% of earning assets and provides a consistent source of liquidity and earnings to the Bancorp. Cash and cash equivalents totaled $38.3 million on September 30, 2022, compared to $33.2 million on December 31, 2021, an increase of $5.1 million or 15.4%. The increase in cash and cash equivalents is primarily the result of the timing of investments in interest earning assets relative to the inflow and outflow of deposits and repurchase agreements.

Funding

On September 30, 2022, core deposits totaled $1.5 billion, compared to $1.2 billion on December 31, 2021, an increase of $310.3 million or 26.0%. The increase is the result of the Royal acquisition, which added $279.9 million of core deposits at the time of acquisition, as well as the Bancorp’s efforts to maintain and grow core deposits. Core deposits include checking, savings, and money market accounts and represented 82.1% of the Bancorp’s total deposits at September 30, 2022. During the first nine months of 2022, balances for checking, savings, and money market accounts increased. The increase in these core deposits is a result of the Royal acquisition, as well as management’s sales efforts along with customer preferences for competitively priced short-term liquid investments. On September 30, 2022, balances for certificates of deposit totaled $327.7 million, compared to $239.2 million on December 31, 2021, an increase of $88.4 million or 37.0%. The increase related to certificate of deposits is related to the Royal acquisition, which added $195.2 million of certificates at the time of acquisition. In addition, on September 30, 2022, borrowings and repurchase agreements totaled $78.1 million, compared to $14.6 million at December 31, 2021, an increase of $63.6 million or 435.9%. The increase in short-term borrowings was the result of cyclical inflows and outflows of interest-earning assets and interest-bearing liabilities.

Capital Adequacy

At September 30, 2022, shareholders’ equity stood at $118.0 million, a decrease of $38.6 million, or 24.6% from December 31, 2021. This decrease is the result of net unrealized losses in the securities portfolio which resulted in an accumulated comprehensive loss of $79.8 million at September 30, 2022. The Bank’s regulatory capital ratios at September 30, 2022, were 12.8% for total capital to risk-weighted assets, 11.8% for both common equity tier 1 capital to risk-weighted assets and tier 1 capital to risk-weighted assets, and 8.1% for tier 1 capital to adjusted average assets. Under all regulatory capital requirements, the Bank is considered well capitalized. Tangible capital represented 4.5% of tangible assets at September 30, 2022.The tangible book value of the Bancorp’s stock stood at $20.99 per share at September 30, 2022, compared to $40.91 at December 31, 2021. This is primarily the result of increased net unrealized loss on securities available-for-sale, net of reclassification and tax effects. Management continues to actively manage the securities portfolio and does not currently anticipate the need to realize losses from the securities portfolio that would result in reductions to retained earnings.

Disclosures Regarding Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Reported amounts are presented in accordance with GAAP. In this press release the Bancorp also is providing certain financial measures that are identified as non-GAAP. The Bancorp’s management believes that the non-GAAP information, which consists of core net income, core diluted earnings per share, core return on equity, core return on assets, core pre-provision net revenue, core pre-provision net revenue/average assets, tangible assets (excluding PPP), tangible common equity, tangible common equity/tangible assets (excluding PPP), average tangible common equity, core yield on loans, core noninterest expense, core noninterest expense/average assets, core efficiency ratio, core earnings, adjusted allowance for loan loss to total loans, adjusted allowance for loan loss to nonperforming loans, adjusted allowance for loan loss to total loans (excluding PPP), core revenue, adjusted net interest margin, and reported net income excluding non-core operations, which can vary from period to period, provides a better comparison of period to period operating performance. Additionally, the Bancorp believes this information is utilized by regulators and market analysts to evaluate a company’s financial condition and, therefore, such information is useful to investors. These disclosures should not be viewed as a substitute for financial results in accordance with GAAP, nor are they necessarily comparable to non-GAAP performance measures which may be presented by other companies. Refer to Table 1 – Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures at the end of this document for a reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures identified herein and their most comparable GAAP measures.

About Finward Bancorp

Finward Bancorp is a locally managed and independent financial holding company headquartered in Munster, Indiana, whose activities are primarily limited to holding the stock of Peoples Bank. Peoples Bank provides a wide range of personal, business, electronic and wealth management financial services from its 29 locations in Lake and Porter Counties in Northwest Indiana and Chicagoland. Finward Bancorp’s common stock is quoted on The NASDAQ Stock Market, LLC under the symbol FNWD. The website ibankpeoples.com provides information on Peoples Bank’s products and services, and Finward Bancorp’s investor relations.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements regarding the financial performance, business prospects, growth and operating strategies of the Bancorp. For these statements, the Bancorp claims the protections of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements in this communication should be considered in conjunction with the other information available about the Bancorp, including the information in the filings the Bancorp makes with the SEC. Forward-looking statements provide current expectations or forecasts of future events and are not guarantees of future performance. The forward-looking statements are based on management’s expectations and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by using words such as “anticipate,” “estimate,” “project,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “will” and similar expressions in connection with any discussion of future operating or financial performance.

Although management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially include: difficulties and delays in integrating Finward’s and Royal’s businesses or fully realizing cost savings and other benefits; business disruption following the merger; any continuing risks and uncertainties for our business, results of operations, and financial condition relating to the COVID-19 pandemic; changes in asset quality and credit risk; the inability to sustain revenue and earnings growth; changes in interest rates, market liquidity, and capital markets, as well as the magnitude of such changes, which may reduce net interest margins; inflation; further deterioration in the market value of securities held in the Bancorp’s investment securities portfolio, whether as a result of macroeconomic factors or otherwise; customer acceptance of the Bancorp’s products and services; customer borrowing, repayment, investment, and deposit practices; customer disintermediation; the introduction, withdrawal, success, and timing of business initiatives; competitive conditions; the inability to realize cost savings or revenues or to implement integration plans and other consequences associated with mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures; economic conditions; and the impact, extent, and timing of technological changes, capital management activities, and other actions of the Federal Reserve Board and legislative and regulatory actions and reforms. Additional factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements are discussed in Finward’s reports (such as the Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Current Reports on Form 8-K) filed with the SEC and available at the SEC’s Internet website (www.sec.gov). All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements concerning matters attributable to Finward or any person acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements above. Except as required by law, Finward does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect circumstances or events that occur after the date the forward-looking statement is made.

In addition to the above factors, we also caution that the actual amounts and timing of any future common stock dividends or share repurchases will be subject to various factors, including our capital position, financial performance, capital impacts of strategic initiatives, market conditions, and regulatory and accounting considerations, as well as any other factors that our Board of Directors deems relevant in making such a determination. Therefore, there can be no assurance that we will repurchase shares or pay any dividends to holders of our common stock, or as to the amount of any such repurchases or dividends.

(1) "non-compliant" refers to not being within the guidelines of the restructuring agreement

(2) included in nonaccruing loan balances presented above