Ameriana Bancorp Second Quarter 2012 Net Income Of $453,000 Or $0.15 Per Share

Ameriana Bancorp (NASDAQ: ASBI), parent company for Ameriana Bank, today announced earnings for the second quarter of 2012 of $453,000, or $0.15 per basic and diluted share, compared with $270,000, or $0.09 per basic and diluted share, for the second quarter of 2011. This marked the 12th consecutive profitable quarter for Ameriana.

For the first six months of 2012, Ameriana's net income more than doubled to $798,000, or $0.27 per basic and diluted share, compared with $391,000, or $0.13 per basic and diluted share, in the year-earlier period.

Commenting on the announcement, Jerome J. Gassen, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "We are pleased to announce another quarter of profitable performance for Ameriana, driven primarily by continued expense management and stability in several key aspects of our business. These areas included our loan portfolio and credit quality, credit costs, overall funding and net interest margin. Some strengthening of the economy during the first half of the year contributed to this ongoing stability, particularly in terms of the level of our credit losses and non-performing loans.

"We believe these positive second quarter results indicate that our business fundamentals remain sound, positioning us to take advantage of any uptick in the economy in the second half of the year," Gassen continued. "However, we are concerned that meaningful improvements may not occur in the near term. The prevailing interest rate environment, which is at a historic low and soon could be pressured closer to zero, fiscal and regulatory conditions, and even the far-reaching effects of recessions occurring in international economies combine to create an environment of uncertainty that may further pressure loan growth and margins in the future. Nevertheless, Ameriana will remain focused on reducing expenses, working down non-performing assets and lowering overall credit costs."

The Bank recorded a provision for loan losses of $380,000 for the second quarter of 2012, which resulted in an allowance for loan losses to total loans ratio of 1.33% at June 30, 2012, an increase from 1.28% at March 31, 2012, and 1.32% at June 30, 2011. Non-performing loans were 2.8% of total net loans at June 30, 2012, compared with 2.7% at the end of the first quarter of 2012 and 2.6% at June 30, 2011.

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