FBL Financial Group Announces Stock Repurchase Plan and Declares Regular Quarterly Dividend.

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 16, 1998--FBL Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: FFG) today announced a repurchase plan for up to $25 million of its Class A common shares and declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.075 per common share.

Stock Buyback Announced. The Board of Directors approved a plan to repurchase up to $25 million of Class A common stock. Any repurchases will be funded with a $25 million bank line of credit.

"We are committed to capital management and view this repurchase plan as a way to efficiently utilize some of our excess capital," stated Tom Gibson, Chief Executive Officer. "Approval of this plan was not based on requests from our Farm Bureau shareholders, as other buybacks have been, but rather is based on our continuing desire to effectively manage our capital base and increase shareholder returns."

The repurchase plan authorizes FBL Financial to make repurchases in the open market or through privately negotiated transactions, with the timing and terms of the purchases to be determined by management based on market conditions. The market repurchases will be made from time to time in compliance with Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 10b-18. Completion of the program is dependent on market conditions. The repurchase program may be terminated at any time at the Company's discretion and is not in response to any tender offer or any other offer for shares of the Company. This announcement is not a request or offer for tender of shares to the Company.

Quarterly Dividend Declared. The Board of Directors also declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.075 per share to owners of Class A and Class B common stock. The dividend will be payable on December 31, 1998, to shareholders of record as of December 15, 1998. There are 31,434,245 shares of Class A common stock and 1,192,990 shares of Class B common stock, for a total of 32,627,235 common shares outstanding.

FBL Financial Group (www.fblfinancial.com) is a holding company whose primary operating subsidiaries include Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company, Western Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company and EquiTrust Life Insurance Company. FBL Financial underwrites, markets and distributes life insurance, annuities and mutual funds to individuals and small businesses. FBL Financial's three-pronged growth strategy includes (1) internal growth within its traditional Farm Bureau distribution network in 14 midwestern and western states (2) consolidations and alliances with other Farm Bureau companies and (3) alternative distribution - opportunities beyond the boundaries of the Farm Bureau network.