Business First Bancshares, Inc. Added to Russell® 3000 Index

Business First Bancshares, Inc. Added to Russell® 3000 Index

BATON ROUGE, La., June 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: BFST), parent company of Business First Bank, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a business-focused regional bank, today announced it had been added to the broad-market Russell 3000^® Index as part of the Russell Indexes annual reconstitution, which took effect after U.S. market close on Friday, June 22, 2018.

"We've come a long way in a short period of time," said Jude Melville, President and CEO of Business First. "Inclusion in the Russell 3000 Index in a sense validates our team's efforts thus far, but it also means that we now have to set the bar higher. I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of value we can create for our clients and our shareholders over the coming years."

The Russell 3000^® Index measures the performance of the largest 3,000 U.S. companies. Russell U.S. Indexes are the leading U.S. equity benchmarks for institutional investors. This broad range of U.S. indexes allows investors to track current and historical market performance by specific size, investment style and other market characteristics.

About Business First Bank
Business First Bancshares, Inc., through its banking subsidiary Business First Bank, operates 19 offices, including 18 full-service banking centers and one wealth solutions office in markets across Louisiana and Texas. Business First Bank provides commercial and personal banking, treasury management, and wealth solutions services to small to midsize businesses and their owners and employees. Visit www.b1bank.com for more information. Business First's common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "BFST."

Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this news release may not be based on historical facts and are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements may be identified by their reference to a future period or periods or by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "may," "might," "will," "would," "could," or "intend." We caution you not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this news release, in that actual results could differ materially from those indicated in such forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors. We undertake no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date of this news release.

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SOURCE Business First Bancshares, Inc.