EXHIBIT 99
REPORT OF PREDECESSOR ACCOUNTANTS
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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT AUDITORS
Board of Directors and Shareholders
First Midwest Financial, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Storm Lake, Iowa
We have audited the consolidated balance sheet of First Midwest Financial, Inc.
and Subsidiaries (the "Company") as of September 30, 1999 and the related
consolidated statements of income, changes in shareholders' equity and cash
flows for the years ended September 30, 1999 and 1998. These financial
statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our
responsibility is to express an opinion of these financial statements based on
our audits.
We conducted our audits in accordance with generally accepted auditing
standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain
reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material
misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting
the amounts of disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes
assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by
management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation.
We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present
fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of
September 30, 1999, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the
years ended September 30, 1999 and 1998 in conformity with generally accepted
accounting principles.
/s/ Crowe, Chizek & Company LLP
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Crowe, Chizek & Company LLP
South Bend, Indiana
October 15, 1999
