First Bancshares, Inc. Announces Lifting of Order

MOUNTAIN GROVE, Miss., Oct. 17, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- First Bancshares, Inc. (FstBksh) (OTCQB:FBSI), the holding company for First Home Savings Bank, today announced the termination of the Cease and Desist Order ("Order") that the Company entered into with the Office of Thrift Supervision on August 17, 2009 and that was being enforced by its current banking regulator, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ("Federal Reserve"). The termination of the Order was effective on September 24, 2013. As a result of the termination of the Order, the Company is no longer considered to be in "troubled condition" and no longer subject to any written notice restrictions, or restrictions on golden parachute payments imposed as a result of such troubled condition designation.

"We are pleased with the lifting of the Order, which reflects the results of our hard work and determination in improving credit quality and reducing nonperforming assets," said Brad Weaver, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the First Bancshares. "With this achievement, we are well positioned for the future and will continue to execute our strategies and priorities to strengthen our franchise and return the Company to profitability."

First Bancshares, Inc. is the holding company for First Home Savings Bank, a FDIC-insured savings bank chartered by the State of Missouri that conducts business from its home office in Mountain Grove, Missouri, and seven full service offices in Marshfield, Ava, Gainesville, Sparta, Springfield, Crane, and Kissee Mills, Missouri.

The Company and its wholly-owned subsidiary, First Home Savings Bank, may from time to time make written or oral "forward-looking statements" in its reports to stockholders, and in other communications by the Company, which are made in good faith by the Company pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

These forward-looking statements include statements with respect to the Company's beliefs, expectations, estimates and intentions that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, and are subject to change based on various factors, some of which are beyond the Company's control. Such statements address the following subjects: future operating results; customer growth and retention; loan and other product demand; earnings growth and expectations; new products and services; credit quality and adequacy of reserves; results of examinations by our bank regulators, technology, and our employees. The following factors, among others, could cause the Company's financial performance to differ materially from the expectations, estimates and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements: the strength of the United States economy in general and the strength of the local economies in which the Company conducts operations; the effects of, and changes in, trade, monetary, and fiscal policies and laws, including interest rate policies of the Federal Reserve Board; inflation, interest rate, market, and monetary fluctuations; the timely development and acceptance of new products and services of the Company and the perceived overall value of these products and services by users; the impact of changes in financial services' laws and regulations; technological changes; acquisitions; changes in consumer spending and savings habits; and the success of the Company at managing and collecting assets of borrowers in default and managing the risks of the foregoing.

The foregoing list of factors is not exclusive. The Company does not undertake, and expressly disclaims any intent or obligation, to update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company.

R. Bradley Weaver, President and CEO - (417) 926-5151