FDIC LEGAL NOTICE

NOTICE OF MERGER OF BANKS

Notice is hereby given that b1BANK, 500 Laurel Street, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70801, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Business First Bancshares, Inc., Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has filed an application with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation for its written consent for Progressive Bank, 1411 N. 19th Street, Monroe, Louisiana 71201, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Progressive Bancorp, Inc., Monroe, Louisiana, to merge with and into b1BANK. b1BANK will be the resulting entity from the bank merger and the separate corporate existence of Progressive Bank will cease. Following the bank merger, b1BANK will remain a wholly-owned subsidiary of Business First Bancshares, Inc.

It is contemplated that all offices of Progressive Bank and b1BANK will continue to be operated following the proposed merger transactions.

This notice is published pursuant to Section 18(c) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act.

Any person wishing to comment on this application is encouraged to submit comments through the FDIC's website at https://cra.fdic.gov/. Any person wishing to comment on the application may file his or her comments, in writing, with the Regional Director of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation at its Dallas Regional Office at 600 North Pearl Street, Suite 700, Dallas, Texas 75201, not later than September 23, 2025. The non-confidential portions of the application are on file in the regional office and are available for inspection during regular business hours. Photocopies of the non-confidential portion of the application will be made available upon request.

August 24, September 5, 18 2025

LLOU0356586