Note 1 - Basis of Presentation

Organization and Description of Business

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Finward Bancorp (the “Bancorp” or “FNWD”), its wholly-owned subsidiaries NWIN Risk Management, Inc. (a captive insurance subsidiary) and Peoples Bank (the “Bank”), and the Bank’s wholly-owned subsidiaries, Peoples Service Corporation, NWIN, LLC; NWIN Funding, Incorporated, and Columbia Development Company, LLC. The Bancorp’s business activities include being a holding company for the Bank as well as a holding company for NWIN Risk Management, Inc. The Bancorp’s earnings are primarily dependent upon the earnings of the Bank. The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements were prepared in accordance with instructions for Form 10-Q and, therefore, do not include all disclosures required by U.S. generally accepted accounting principles for complete presentation of consolidated financial statements. In the opinion of management, the consolidated financial statements contain all adjustments necessary to present fairly the consolidated balance sheets of the Bancorp as of March 31, 2023, and December 31, 2022, and the consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income (loss), and changes in stockholders’ equity for the three months ended March 31, 2023, and 2022, and consolidated statements of cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2023, and 2022. The income reported for the three month period ended March 31, 2023, is not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year.

The Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements appearing in Finward Bancorp’s Annual Report on Form 10-K (2022 Annual Report), which include descriptions of significant accounting policies, should be read in conjunction with these interim financial statements. The Consolidated Balance Sheet at December 31, 2022, has been derived from the audited financial statements at that date but does not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements. Certain amounts in the prior period consolidated financial statements have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation. These reclassifications had no effect on net income.

Note 2 - Use of Estimates

Preparing financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period, as well as the disclosures provided. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Estimates associated with the allowance for loan losses, fair values of foreclosed real estate, loan servicing rights, investment securities, deferred tax assets, goodwill, and the status of contingencies are particularly susceptible to material change in the near term.

Note 3 – Change in Accounting Principles

In June 2016, FASB issued ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses: Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments (“CECL”. The ASU includes increased disclosures and various changes to the accounting and measurement of financial assets including the Bancorp’s loans and available-for-sale debt securities. Each financial asset presented on the balance sheet would have a unique allowance for credit losses (“ACL”) valuation account that is deducted from the amortized cost basis to present the net carrying value at the amount expected to be collected on the financial asset. The amendments in this ASU also eliminate the probable initial recognition threshold in current GAAP and instead, reflect an entity’s current estimate of all expected credit losses using reasonable and supportable forecasts. In October 2019, the FASB voted and approved proposed changes to the effective date of this ASU for smaller reporting companies, such as the Bancorp, and other non-SEC reporting entities. The approval changed the effective date of the ASU to fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022, including interim periods within those fiscal periods. The new credit loss guidance became effective for the Bancorp as of January 1, 2023. Upon adoption, the ASU will be applied using a modified retrospective transition method to the beginning of the first reporting period in which the guidance is effective. A prospective transition approach is required for debt securities for which an other-than-temporary impairment had been recognized before the effective date. On January 1, 2023, the Bancorp adopted ASU No. 2016-13 resulting in an implementation entry of $8.3 million, increasing the ACL by $5.2 million and unfunded commitment liability of $3.1 million, retained earnings decreased $6.1 million and a deferred tax asset of $2.2 million was generated. The majority of the implementation entry is related to including acquired loan portfolios in the model and the addition of using economic forecasts in estimating future losses. In addition, $1.0 million of non-accretable credit loan discounts on purchase credit impaired loans now classified as purchase credit deteriorated were reallocated to the ACL.

Upon adopting ASU 2016-13, the Bancorp did not record an allowance as of January 1, 2023, with respect to its available-for-sale debt securities as the majority of these securities were backed by federal governmental agencies with zero-expected losses or highly rated for which the risk of loss is minimal.

The main drivers of the day one adjustment related to implementation is summarized in the following table:

In March 2022, the FASB issued ASU 2022-02, Financial Instruments—Credit Losses (Topic 326): Troubled Debt Restructurings and Vintage Disclosures, which addresses and amends areas identified by the FASB as part of its post-implementation review of the accounting standard that introduced the CECL model. The amendments eliminate the accounting guidance for troubled debt restructurings by companies that have adopted the CECL model and enhance the disclosure requirements for loan refinancings and restructurings made with borrowers experiencing financial difficulty. In addition, the amendments require disclosure of current-period gross writeoffs for financing receivables and net investment in leases by year of origination in the vintage disclosures. ASU 2022-02 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022, including interim periods within those fiscal years for entities that have adopted the CECL accounting standard. The Bancorp adopted ASU 2022-02 on January 1, 2023.

Note 4 - Upcoming Accounting Standards

In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU No. 2020-04 “Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting.” These amendments provide temporary optional guidance to ease the potential burden in accounting for reference rate reform. The ASU provides optional expedients and exceptions for applying generally accepted accounting principles to contract modifications and hedging relationships, subject to meeting certain criteria, that reference LIBOR or another reference rate expected to be discontinued. It is intended to help stakeholders during the global market-wide reference rate transition period. In January 2021, the FASB issued ASU 2021-01 which clarifies that certain optional expedients and exceptions in Topic 848 for contract modifications and hedge accounting apply to derivatives that are affected by the discounting transition. In December of 2022, the FASB issued ASU No. 2022-06 which extended the period of time preparers can utilize the reference rate reform relief guidance in Topic 848. The guidance ensures the relief in Topic 848 covers the period of time during which a significant number of modifications may take place and the ASU defers the sunset date of Topic 848 from December 31, 2022 to December 31, 2024. The Bancorp continues to implement its transition plan towards cessation of LIBOR and the modification of its loans and other financial instruments with attributes that are either directly or indirectly influenced by LIBOR. The Bancorp expects to utilize the LIBOR transition relief allowed under ASU 2020-04, ASU 2021-01 and ASU 2022-06, as applicable, and does not expect such adoption to have a material impact on its accounting and disclosures.

In June 2022, the FASB issued ASU No. 2022-03 “Fair Value Measurements (Topic 820): Fair Value Measurement of Equity Securities Subject to Contractual Sale Restrictions.” These amendments clarify that a contractual restriction on the sale of an equity security is not considered part of the unit of account of the equity security and, therefore, is not considered in measuring fair value. This guidance is effective for public business entities for fiscal years, including interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2023. Early adoption is permitted. The Bancorp has assessed ASU 2022-03 and does not expect it to have a material impact on its accounting and disclosures.

In March 2023, the FASB issued Accounting Standards (ASU) No. 2023-02 “Investments Equity Method and Joint Ventures (Topic 323): Accounting for Investments in Tax Credit Structures Using the Proportional Amortization Method.” These amendments allow reporting entities to elect to account for qualifying tax equity investments using the proportional amortization method, regardless of the program giving rise to the related income tax credits. This guidance is effective for public business entities for fiscal years including interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2023. Early adoption is permitted in any interim period. The Bancorp is assessing ASU 2023-02 and its impact on its accounting and disclosures.

Note 5 - Acquisition Activity

On January 31, 2022, the Bancorp completed its previously announced acquisition of Royal Financial, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“RYFL”), pursuant to an Agreement and Plan of Merger dated July 28, 2021 (the “Merger Agreement”) between the Bancorp and RYFL. The stockholders of both the Bancorp and RYFL approved the Merger Agreement at the respective stockholder meetings of the companies held on December 13, 2021. Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, RYFL merged with and into the Bancorp, with the Bancorp as the surviving corporation (the “Merger”), and Royal Savings Bank, an Illinois state-chartered savings bank and wholly-owned subsidiary of RYFL, merged with and into Peoples Bank, the wholly-owned Indiana state-chartered commercial bank subsidiary of the Bancorp, with Peoples Bank as the surviving bank.

Under the terms of the merger agreement, RYFL stockholders who owned 101 or more shares of RYFL common stock were permitted to elect to receive either 0.4609 shares of the Bancorp common stock or $20.14 in cash, or a combination of both, for each share of RYFL common stock owned, subject to proration and allocation provisions such that 65% of the shares of RYFL common stock outstanding immediately prior to the closing of the merger were converted into the right to receive shares of the Bancorp common stock and the remaining 35% of the outstanding RYFL shares were converted into the right to receive cash. Stockholders holding less than 101 shares of RYFL common stock received fixed consideration of $20.14 in cash per share and no stock consideration.

As a result of RYFL stockholder stock and cash elections and the related allocation and proration provisions of the merger agreement, the Bancorp issued 795,423 shares of its common stock and paid cash consideration of approximately $18.7 million in the Merger. Based on the January 28, 2022, closing price of $47.75 per share of the Bancorp common stock, the transaction had an implied valuation of approximately $56.7 million. In connection with the acquisition, Robert W. Youman, was appointed to the boards of directors of the Bancorp and Peoples Bank effective as of the closing of the Merger. RYFL had a home office and eight branch offices in Cook County and DuPage County, Illinois. The acquisition has further expanded the Bank’s banking center network in Cook County and DuPage County, Illinois.

Under the acquisition method of accounting, the total purchase price is allocated to net tangible and intangible assets based on their current estimated fair values on the date of the acquisition. Based on the valuations of the fair value of tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed, which are based on estimates and assumptions that are subject to change, the final purchase price for the RYFL acquisition is allocated as follows: