ASB HOLDING COMPANY                Contact:          Mr. Eric B. Heyer
365 Broad Street                                     Senior Vice President and
Bloomfield, New Jersey 07003                         Chief Financial Officer
                                                     (973) 748-3600



                              For Immediate Release
                                 October 3, 2003


                               ASB HOLDING COMPANY
                        COMPLETES MINORITY STOCK OFFERING

         Bloomfield,  New Jersey - October 3, 2003 - ASB  Holding  Company  (the
"Company")  announced  today that it has completed a minority  stock offering in
which 1,666,350 shares,  or 30%, of its outstanding  common stock were sold in a
subscription  offering  for  $10.00 per  share.  The other 70% of the  Company's
outstanding stock is held by American Savings, MHC, the Company's mutual holding
company  parent,  which owned 100% of the capital  stock of the Company prior to
the  offering.  The Company owns 100% of the capital  stock of American  Savings
Bank of NJ (the "Bank").

         "We were pleased  with the amount of investor  interest in the stock of
the company," said Joseph Kliminski,  President and Chief Executive Officer. "We
are excited about being a public  company and we look forward to continuing  the
Bank's service to its customers and the communities in which the Bank operates."

         The Bank,  originally founded in 1919 as the  American-Polish  Building
and Loan Association of Bloomfield,  New Jersey, is a federally-chartered  stock
bank that  conducts its  business  through its main office in  Bloomfield  and a
branch office in Cedar Grove,  New Jersey.  At June 30, 2003, the Bank had total
assets of $373.2 million and total equity of $22.6 million.

         The  offering was managed by Milestone  Advisors,  LLC.  The  Company's
common stock is expected to commence trading on October 3, 2003 under the symbol
"ASBH" with quotations available through the OTC Electronic Bulletin Board.