Exhibit 99.1

Civista Bancshares, Inc. Announces Third Quarter 2018 Earnings

Sandusky, Ohio, November 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/– Civista Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CIVB) (“Civista”) reported net loss available to common shareholders of $3.6 million, or ($0.31) per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2018. This compares to net income available to common shareholders of $3.4 million, or $0.29 per diluted share, for the prior year period.

For the nine-month period ended September 30, 2018, Civista reported net income available to common shareholders of $5.8 million or $0.51 per diluted share. This compares to $11.0 million or $0.97 per diluted share, in the same period of 2017.

“The third quarter of 2018 was a very busy quarter. We closed on the acquisition of United Community Bancorp and completed the integration of their systems. While those two items are big accomplishments by themselves, we also originated $36.7 million of loans. With our organic growth and the acquisition, our loans are now over $1.5 billion. Our annualized organic loan growth was 12.5% for the quarter,” said Dennis G. Shaffer, President and CEO of Civista.

Factors Affecting Comparability

Most recently, Civista acquired United Community Bancorp (“UCB”) in September 2018. The financial position and results of operations of UCB prior to its acquisition date are not included in the Company’s financial results for periods prior to the acquisition date.

Adjusted Earnings

Financial results for the third quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2018 included $8.8 million and $12.0 million respectively, in acquisition and integration expenses, as well as a loss on sale of securities of $392 thousand. Excluding these expenses, adjusted earnings were $4.8 million, or $0.37 diluted earnings per share, for the third quarter of 2018 and $16.8 million, or $1.37 diluted earnings per share, for the nine months ended September 30, 2018.

A reconciliation of adjusted earnings to net income according to accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”) is provided in the financial tables at the end of this press release.

Results of Operations:

Net interest income increased $2.1 million, or 15.7%, for the third quarter of 2018, and $5.4 million, or 13.6%, for the nine months ended September 30, compared to the same periods of 2017. Interest income increased $3.1 million, or 20.6%, for the third quarter of 2018 and $7.2 million or 16.9% for the nine-month period ended September 30. For both periods, an increase in average loans outstanding, as well as an increase in loan yields, contributed to the increase in interest income compared to 2017. Interest expense increased $906 thousand, or 78.4 %, for the third quarter of 2018 and $1.8 million, or 63.6%, for the nine months ended September 30 compared to the same periods of 2017. The increase in interest expense is due to both an increase in average balances and an increase in the cost of interest-bearing liabilities. The tax equivalent net interest margin increased 7 basis points to 4.15% for the third quarter of 2018, compared to 4.08% for the same period a year ago and increased 21 basis points to 4.14% for the nine months ended September 30, 2018, compared to 3.93% for the same period a year ago.

Mr. Shaffer continued, “We have been positioned for some time for an increase in interest rates. We have seen the benefits through the increase in our net interest margin. The addition of UCB provides core low-cost funding for the future.”

Average Balance Analysis

(Unaudited - Dollars in thousands except share data)

Average Balance Analysis

(Unaudited - Dollars in thousands except share data)

Provision for loan losses was $390 thousand for the nine months ended September 30, 2018. No provision was recorded during 2017.

For the third quarter of 2018, noninterest income totaled $3.3 million, a decrease of $177 thousand, or 5.1%, compared to the prior year’s third quarter. Noninterest income for the first nine months of 2018 totaled $13.3 million, an increase of $589 thousand, or 4.6%, compared to the prior year’s first nine months.

Noninterest income

For the third quarter of 2018, we recorded a loss on securities sold of $392 thousand as a result of selling three securities to improve the structure and to gain future yield. ATM/Interchange fees increased $55 thousand, or 9.7%, and $121 thousand, or 7.4%, for the third quarter and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, primarily due to increased interchange income. Wealth management fees increased $86 thousand, or 10.9%, and $328 thousand, or 14.7%, for the third quarter and nine-month period ended September 30, 2018 and 2017. Assets under management totaled $468.2 million, representing an increase of $2.8 million in the third quarter of 2018 and $5.0 million, or 1.1%, since the end of the third quarter 2017. Other noninterest income increased for the nine-month period due primarily to an increase in swap related income of $164 thousand.

Mr. Shaffer continued, “During the third quarter we took a look at our investment portfolio and determined that by repositioning a couple of securities we could improve the structure of our portfolio as well as add yield. In the short-term, that resulted in a $392 thousand loss. In the long-term, this transaction should result in the pick-up of approximately 146 basis points in yield.”

For the third quarter of 2018, noninterest expense totaled $22.2 million, an increase of $10.0 million, or 82.1%, compared to the prior year’s third quarter. Noninterest expense for the first nine months of 2018 increased $14.1 million, or 38.9%, when compared to the first nine months of 2017.

Compensation expense increased $4.6 million and $5.5 million for the three and nine-month periods ending September 30, 2018. Both 2018 periods included $4.2 million of acquisition related expenses. The remaining increases were due to an increase in employee salaries and incentives of $388 thousand for the three months and $878 thousand for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 compared to last year. Additionally, employee insurance increased $69 thousand for the three months and $284 thousand for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 compared to last year. Net occupancy and equipment expense increased $82 thousand, or 7.9%, and $345 thousand, or 11.1%, for the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2018. The increase for the nine-month period is primarily due to increases in grounds maintenance and utilities, as a result of the extended winter weather we experienced in our region. Contracted data processing expenses increased $2.8 million and $5.1 million for the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2018, due to $2.8 million for three months and $5.3 million for nine months, incurred for data processing conversion expenses of UCB. Professional services costs increased $1.7 million and $2.5 million for the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2018, respectively. The increase includes $1.6 million and $2.3 million of legal and consulting expenses related to the UCB acquisition, respectively.

The efficiency ratio was 84.7% for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 compared to 67.3% for the nine months ended September 30, 2017. The increase in the efficiency ratio is due primarily to $12.0 million of expenses related to the merger with UCB, partially offset by an increase in net interest income. Excluding the merger related expenses, the efficiency ratio was 64.2% for the nine months ended September 30, 2018. Please see the non-GAAP reconciliation at the end of this document.

Civista’ s effective income tax rate for the third quarter and nine-month period ended September 30, 2018 was 0.0% and 17.6%, respectively.

Balance Sheet

Total assets increased $559.7 million, or 36.7%, from December 31, 2017 to September 30, 2018, primarily due to the acquisition of United Community Bancorp.

End of period loan balances

The acquisition of UCB contributed $298.9 million, or 85.2%, of the increase in the loan portfolio. Organic loan growth during 2018 totaled $52.1 million with increases of $23.2 million in the Commercial Real Estate, $13.6 million in the Residential Real Estate and $17.4 million in the Real Estate Construction loan portfolios.

Total deposits increased $372.8 million, or 30.9%, from December 31, 2017 to September 30, 2018. The acquisition of UCB added $475.9 million in deposits. Organic deposits decreased $103.1 million due to a shift from brokered deposits to borrowings.

End of period deposit balances

The increase in noninterest-bearing demand is due to an increase in deposits from the acquisition of $112.8 million, which was partially offset by cash paid by the Company related to the UCB acquisition. Interest-bearing demand deposits increased due to an $86.1 million increase related to the UCB acquisition. Savings and money market deposits increased primarily due to a $148.5 million increase related to the UCB acquisition. Time deposits would have decreased $3.1 million if not for the increase related to the UCB acquisition. The decrease in brokered deposits was due to a shift in wholesale funding sources.

Federal Home Loan Bank advances increased $73.2 million to $145.1 million at September 30, 2018, or 101.8%, from December 31, 2017, due to a short term shift in wholesale funding sources.

Total shareholders’ equity increased $104.9 million, or 56.9%, from December 31, 2017 to September 30, 2018. The acquisition of UCB resulted in the issuance of 4.3 million shares of stock totaling $104.7 million. In addition, retained earnings increased $3.5 million, partially offset by a $4.1 million decrease in accumulated other comprehensive income. During 2018, $6.5 million of preferred stock was converted to 896 thousand shares of common stock. Since issuance in December 2013, approximately $12.3 million has been converted from preferred stock to common stock.

Asset Quality

The Company recorded net charge-offs of $193 thousand for the nine months of 2018 compared to $359 thousand for the same period of 2017.

Allowance for Loan Losses

The allowance for loan losses to loans was 0.88% for 2018 and 1.13% for 2017. The non-performing assets to assets ratio decreased to 0.48% from 0.74% in 2017. The allowance for loan losses to non-performing loans decreased to 132.86% from 168.36% in 2017. The decreases in these ratios is primarily due to the UCB acquisition.

Non-performing assets at September 30, 2018 were $10.0 million, a 5.0% increase from December 31, 2017.

Non-performing Assets

Conference Call and Webcast

Civista Bancshares, Inc. will also host a conference call to discuss the Company’s financial results for the third quarter of 2018 at 1:00 p.m. ET on Friday, November 2, 2018. Interested parties can access the live webcast of the conference call through the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website, www.civb.com. Participants can also listen to the conference call by dialing 855-238-2712 and ask to be joined into the Civista Bancshares, Inc. Third Quarter 2018 Earnings call. Please log in or dial in at least 10 minutes prior to the start time to ensure a connection.

An archive of the webcast will be available for one year on the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website (www.civb.com).

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Some of the financial measures included in this press release are not measures of financial performance recognized in accordance with GAAP. These non-GAAP financial measures include “Adjusted Earnings,” and “Adjusted Efficiency Ratio.” The Company believes these non-GAAP financial measures provide both management and investors a more complete understanding of the Company’s profitability. These non-GAAP financial measures are supplemental and are not a substitute for any analysis based on GAAP financial measures. Not all companies use the same calculation of these measures; therefore, this presentation may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures as presented by other companies.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements regarding the financial performance, business prospects, growth and operating strategies of Civista. For these statements, Civista claims the protections of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements in this press release should be considered in conjunction with the other information available about Civista, including the information in the filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements provide current expectations or forecasts of future events and are not guarantees of future performance. The forward-looking statements are based on management’s expectations and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. We have tried, wherever possible, to identify such statements by using words such as “anticipate,” “estimate,” “project,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “will” and similar expressions in connection with any discussion of future operating or financial performance. Although management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially include risk factors relating to the banking industry and the other factors detailed from time to time in Civista’ reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including those described in “Item 1A Risk Factors” of Part I of Civista’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017. Undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Civista does not undertake, and specifically disclaims any obligation, to update any forward-looking statement to reflect the events or circumstances after the date on which the forward-looking statement is made, or reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except to the extent required by law.

Civista Bancshares, Inc. is a $2.1 billion financial holding company headquartered in Sandusky, Ohio. The Company’s banking subsidiary, Civista Bank, operates 38 locations in Northern, Central and Southwestern Ohio, Southeastern Indiana and Northern Kentucky. Civista Bancshares, Inc. may be accessed at HUwww.civb.comUH. The Company’s common shares are traded on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol “CIVB”. The Company’s depositary shares, each representing a 1/40^th ownership interest in a Series B Preferred Share, are traded on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol “CIVBP”.

For additional information, contact:

Dennis G. Shaffer

President and CEO

Civista Bancshares, Inc.

888-645-4121

Civista Bancshares, Inc.

Financial Highlights

(dollars in thousands, except share amounts)

Consolidated Condensed Statement of Income

Selected Balance Sheet Items

Supplemental Financial Information

(Unaudited – Dollars in thousands except share data)

Supplemental Financial Information

(Unaudited – Dollars in thousands except share data)

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

(Unaudited – Dollars in thousands except share data)