First Financial Bancorp Q2 FY26 net income rises 2.7% to $76.46 million

• First Financial Bancorp posted Q2 net income of $76.5 million, rising 9.2% from a year earlier; diluted EPS increased to $0.73.
• Net interest margin held at 3.96%, while return on average assets eased to 1.37% from 1.52% a year earlier.
• Noninterest income climbed 8.4% to $73.8 million, while noninterest expenses rose 25.5% to $161.5 million.
• Net charge-offs improved to 0.20% of total loans from 0.35% in Q1; allowance for credit losses edged up to 1.38%.
• Agreed to buy Finward Bancorp in an all-stock deal valued at about $208 million, expected to be about 5% EPS accretive.

Disclaimer: This news brief was created by Public Technologies (PUBT) using generative artificial intelligence. While PUBT strives to provide accurate and timely information, this AI-generated content is for informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as financial, investment, or legal advice. First Financial Bancorp published the original content used to generate this news brief via PR Newswire (Ref. ID: 202607211630PR_NEWS_USPR_____CL07905) on July 21, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained therein.