Cheviot Financial Corp. Reports Second-Quarter Earnings

CINCINNATI, July 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Cheviot Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: CHEV), the parent company of Cheviot Savings Bank, today reported net earnings in the second fiscal quarter of 2012 of $1.2 million, or $0.16 per share an increase of 34% from the $903,000, or $0.10 per share in net earnings reported for the second quarter of fiscal 2011.  For the six months ended June 30, 2012 net earnings totaled $2.1 million, or $0.28 per share compared with net earnings of $1.5 million, or $0.17 per share for the six months ended June 30, 2011.

The earnings per share for both the three and six months ended June 30, 2012 were based on weighted average shares outstanding of 7,348,351 and 7,483,336 as compared with weighted average shares outstanding of 8,757,782 for both the comparable 2011 periods.

On January 18, 2012, the Company completed its second-step conversion and related public stock offering.  Cheviot Savings Bank is now 100% owned by the Company and the Company is 100% owned by public shareholders.  The Company sold a total of 4,675,000 shares of common stock in a subscription, community and syndicated community offerings, including 187,000 shares to the Company's employee stock ownership plan.  All shares were sold at a purchase price of $8.00 per share.

The increase in 2012 quarterly net earnings reflects a decrease of $827,000 in general, administrative and other expenses and an increase of $252,000 in other income, which was partially offset by a decrease of $557,000 in net interest income, an increase in the provision for losses on loans of $200,000 and an increase of $17,000 in the provision for federal income taxes.  For the quarter ended June 30, 2012, the decrease in general, administrative and other expenses is a result of the absence of non-recurring merger costs included in the quarter ended June 30, 2011.  

During the six months ended June 30, 2012, the Company's increase in earnings generally reflected an increase of $734,000 in net interest income and an increase of $967,000 in other income, which was partially offset by an increase of $459,000 in general, administrative and other expenses, an increase of $200,000 in the provision for losses on loans and an increase of $407,000 in the provision for federal income taxes.  The increase in net interest income is due to the Corporation utilizing the proceeds from the second-step stock conversion through purchases of investment securities and loan originations.  During the six months ended June 30, 2012, the Company recorded a provision for losses on loans totaling $400,000 after giving consideration to the allocation of approximately $162,000 for write downs in loans transferred to real estate acquired through foreclosure. 

At June 30, 2012, Cheviot Financial Corp. had consolidated total assets of $634.2 million, total liabilities of $526.8 million, including deposits of $495.7 million, and shareholders' equity of $107.3 million, or 16.9% of total assets.  At June 30, 2012, Cheviot Savings Bank exceeded all capital adequacy requirements with tangible, core and risk-based capital ratios of 12.5%, 12.5% and 25.5%.

Cheviot Savings Bank was established in 1911 and currently has 12 full-service offices in Hamilton County, Ohio.

Unaudited financial statements follow.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this release which are not historical facts are forward-looking and involve risks and uncertainties. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement.

SOURCE Cheviot Financial Corp.