MidSouth Bancorp, Inc. Updates on Asset Quality Improvements

MidSouth Bancorp, Inc. (“MidSouth”) (NYSE:MSL) today announced that based on the sale in the first quarter of 2019 of $16.9 million of loans classified as held for sale at December 31, 2018 for total proceeds of $18.3 million, pro forma Bank Classified to Capital at December 31, 2018 improved from 29% to 19%.

Jim McLemore, President and CEO, remarked, “We are encouraged by the successful completion of these sales and the meaningful improvement to our asset quality metrics. Our efforts in 2018 to stabilize our credit issues and enhance our corporate governance both serve to improve our risk profile and will allow us to focus on executing our strategic plan to improve performance and build shareholder value in 2019.”

About MidSouth Bancorp, Inc.

MidSouth Bancorp, Inc. is a bank holding company headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana, with assets of $1.7 billion as of December 31, 2018. MidSouth Bancorp, Inc. trades on the NYSE under the symbol “MSL.” Through its wholly owned subsidiary, MidSouth Bank, N.A., MidSouth offers a full range of banking services to commercial and retail customers in Louisiana and Texas. MidSouth Bank currently has 42 locations in Louisiana and Texas and is connected to a worldwide ATM network that provides customers with access to more than 55,000 surcharge-free ATMs. Additional corporate information is available at MidSouthBank.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained herein are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve risks and uncertainties. These statements include, among others, statements regarding expected future performance and shareholder value. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “will,” “would,” “could,” “should,” “guidance,” “potential,” “continue,” “project,” “forecast,” “confident,” and similar expressions are typically used to identify forward-looking statements.

These statements are based on assumptions and assessments made by management in light of their experience and their perception of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors they believe to be appropriate. Any forward-looking statements are not guarantees of our future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties and may be affected by various factors that may cause actual results, developments and business decisions to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such a difference include, among other matters, changes in interest rates and market prices that could affect the net interest margin, asset valuation, and expense levels; changes in local economic and business conditions in the markets we serve, including, without limitation, changes related to the oil and gas industries that could adversely affect customers and their ability to repay borrowings under agreed upon terms, adversely affect the value of the underlying collateral related to their borrowings, and reduce demand for loans; increases in competitive pressure in the banking and financial services industries; increased competition for deposits and loans which could affect compositions, rates and terms; changes in the levels of prepayments received on loans and investment securities that adversely affect the yield and value of the earning assets; our ability to successfully implement and manage our strategic initiatives; costs and expenses associated with our strategic initiatives and regulatory remediation efforts and possible changes in the size and components of the expected costs and charges associated with our strategic initiatives and regulatory remediation efforts; our ability to realize the anticipated benefits and cost savings from our strategic initiatives within the anticipated time frame, if at all; the ability of the Company to comply with the terms of the formal agreement and the consent order with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency; risk of noncompliance with and further enforcement actions regarding the Bank Secrecy Act and other anti-money laundering statues and regulations; credit losses due to loan concentration, particularly our energy lending and commercial real estate portfolios; a deviation in actual experience from the underlying assumptions used to determine and establish our allowance for loan and lease losses (“ALLL”), which could result in greater than expected loan losses; the adequacy of the level of our ALLL and the amount of loan loss provisions required in future periods including the impact of implementation of the new CECL (current expected credit loss) methodology; future examinations by our regulatory authorities, including the possibility that the regulatory authorities may, among other things, impose additional enforcement actions or conditions on our operations, require additional regulatory remediation efforts or require us to increase our allowance for loan losses or write-down assets; changes in the availability of funds resulting from reduced liquidity or increased costs; the timing and impact of future acquisitions or divestitures, the success or failure of integrating acquired operations, and the ability to capitalize on growth opportunities upon entering new markets; the ability to acquire, operate, and maintain effective and efficient operating systems; the identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting; increased asset levels and changes in the composition of assets that would impact capital levels and regulatory capital ratios; loss of critical personnel and the challenge of hiring qualified personnel at reasonable compensation levels; legislative and regulatory changes, including the impact of regulations under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 and other changes in banking, securities and tax laws and regulations and their application by our regulators, changes in the scope and cost of FDIC insurance and other coverage; regulations and restrictions resulting from our participation in government-sponsored programs such as the U.S. Treasury’s Small Business Lending Fund, including potential retroactive changes in such programs; changes in accounting principles, policies, and guidelines applicable to financial holding companies and banking; increases in cybersecurity risk, including potential business disruptions or financial losses; acts of war, terrorism, cyber intrusion, weather, or other catastrophic events beyond our control; and other factors discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” in MidSouth’sAnnual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 filed with the SEC on March 18, 2019 and in its other filings with the SEC.

MidSouth does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any of these forward-looking statements, whether to reflect new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

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