MidFirst Bank Fourth Quarter Earnings up 15% Over Last Year

January 21, 2008

OKLAHOMA CITY – MidFirst Bank reported earnings of $60.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2007, up $8.1 million or 15% over the same period last year. MidFirst Bank's return on equity, a key banking performance measure, continues at industry leading levels. Based on most recently available data for 2007, MidFirst's return on equity ranks it in the top 7% of the approximately 7,000 banks in the United States.

MidFirst Bank reported earnings of $224 million for the year ended December 31, 2007, compared to $243 million for 2006. This slight decline in earnings over the prior year is primarily attributable to the aggressive expansion of MidFirst's banking network which represents an investment in the bank's future performance. Over the past three years, MidFirst has invested significant capital in Oklahoma with the opening of nine offices, more than any other bank in the state.

MidFirst Bank's assets grew $1.8 billion to $12.9 billion in 2007, an increase of 17% compared to last year's $11.1 billion in assets. Capital and reserves grew by $92 million to just over $1 billion. MidFirst's regulatory core capital ratio also improved.

"MidFirst's performance this year is especially encouraging in light of the turmoil in the financial markets. During this time, MidFirst achieved growth of 17% within its commercial lending portfolio. The bank's growth was achieved while maintaining its status among the top banks in Oklahoma and the United States in terms of asset quality.

The bank's consumer lending portfolio grew 14% in 2007 while maintaining delinquency levels far better than industry averages. The remainder of MidFirst's balance sheet primarily consists of government-backed loans and securities," said Bob Dilg, MidFirst's president and chief executive officer.

"Equally impressive is the fact that retail and commercial deposits grew $433 million, or 19%, this year. This growth is particularly impressive considering that the growth rate nationally, and in Oklahoma is 3% and 8%, respectively. We continue to attract new customers and have achieved an exceptionally high rate of retention among our existing retail and commercial customers," Dilg continued.

"We attribute our success to the fact that we can offer the "best of both worlds" to our customers. As the third largest privately owned bank in the United States, MidFirst has the size and capabilities to compete with the biggest banks, but our private ownership enables us to offer a small community banking experience to our customers.

Among the benefits private ownership affords us, is the ability to focus on long-term value creation. This advantage has allowed us to build an organization faster than publicly-owned banks which are constrained by short-term earnings objectives.

As an indication of our long-term focus, MidFirst has made a more significant commitment than any other bank in Oklahoma to capital investments in our retail network over the past ten years. During that time, we have more than doubled the number of our retail offices in Oklahoma to 49, and we now have over 100 ATM's statewide," Dilg further commented.

MidFirst is Oklahoma City's largest bank. The bank also has a full service banking operation in Phoenix, and lending offices in Houston, Chicago, New York, and Southern California. MidFirst is a member of the Midland Group of Companies and is Oklahoma owned and operated. The Midland Group has served Oklahoma and the nation's financial needs for over 50 years, and is among the largest employers in the Oklahoma with over 1,500 employees.