EXHIBIT 99
(LOGO)
United Bancorp, Inc.
P. O. BOX 10 - MARTINS FERRY, OHIO 43935 - Phone: 740/633-BANK Fax:740/633-1448
We are United to Better Serve You
PRESS RELEASE
UNITED BANCORP, INC.
201 South 4th at Hickory Street, Martins Ferry, OH 43935
Contact: James W. Everson Randall M. Greenwood
Chairman, President and CEO Senior Vice President, CFO and Treasurer
Phone: (740) 633-0445 Ext. 120 (740) 633-0445 Ext. 181
ceo@unitedbancorp.com cfo@unitedbancorp.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 4:00 PM February 2, 2007
SUBJECT: UNITED BANCORP, INC. REPORTS EARNINGS PER SHARE OF $0.15 FOR THE THREE
MONTHS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2006 AND $0.45 FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER
31, 2006 AND ANNOUNCES AFFILIATE CONSOLIDATION PLAN
MARTINS FERRY, OHIO - - - United Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: UBCP), headquartered in
Martins Ferry, Ohio reported earnings of $676,000 for the three months ended
December 31, 2006, compared to $764,000 for the three months ended December 31,
2005. On a per share basis, basic earnings were $0.15 for the three months ended
December 31, 2006 compared to $0.17 for the same period in 2005. Earnings for
2006 were $0.45 per share, compared to $0.71 in 2005. UBCP Chairman, President
and CEO James W. Everson stated "We are pleased with the positive progression of
our earnings for the fourth quarter as compared to the earnings reported in the
second and third quarters of this year. Our fourth quarter earnings of $676,000,
reflecting a substantial improvement over the two previous quarters, were once
again negatively impacted by $264,000 of increased provisioning and asset
disposal costs at our Community Bank affiliate. These additional costs reduced
the Company's after-tax earnings by approximately $0.04 per share for the fourth
quarter. On a positive note, during the latter part of 2006 the overall economic
environment in which The Citizens Bank operates continued to improve and show
signs of economic expansion/stabilization in the steel, coal and aluminum
industries."
Randall M. Greenwood, Senior Vice President, CFO and Treasurer, of UBCP stated
"The Company's 2006 earnings represented an annualized 0.50% return on assets
("ROA") and a 6.61% return on equity ("ROE"). The Company's earnings for 2006
were negatively impacted by increased provisioning, as well as by continued
pressure on the Company's net interest margin which is a current industry
challenge. Without the additional expense items, ROA would have been 0.74% and
ROE of 9.83% for the year ended December 31, 2006. The net interest margin of
the Company continued to decrease during 2006; however, the growth of the
average loan portfolio of approximately $9.5 million, and an increase in the
Company's investment portfolio of $9.7 million did help offset the margin
compression. We also continued to see strong deposit growth of approximately
$23.1 million, or 7.5%, for 2006."
Everson continued, "We are pleased with our progress over the past nine months
as we have worked to improve the future profitability of our Company. The events
of 2006 have required our Company's senior management team to rapidly reassess
corporate strengths and weaknesses. We have taken immediate actions that are now
showing positive results, which reflect in our Company's quarterly earnings
increases these past three quarters. The focus of our efforts has resulted in a
restructuring of our balance sheet and elimination of problem credits through
additional loan loss provisions. These $1.5 million pre-tax initiatives during
the year at Community negatively impacted our Company's 2006 after-tax earnings
by $0.22 per share.
We see continued earnings improvement during 2007 as we carry out our action
plan of keeping our Community Bank franchise as a division and consolidating the
charters of our two affiliates into The Citizens Bank. This plan has been
endorsed by The Community Bank Board who recognizes that The Citizen Bank has a
demonstrated compliant and responsible management team with strong financial
performance consistently ranking in the top quadrant of its peer group." Everson
concluded by stating, "We are optimistic regarding our 2007 earnings as we see a
more normalized earnings stream as well as operational efficiencies to be gained
by this consolidation."
United Bancorp, Inc. is headquartered in Martins Ferry, Ohio and is a multi-bank
holding company with total assets of approximately $422.1 million and total
shareholder's equity of approximately $31.1 million as of December 31, 2006.
Affiliates of UBCP include The Citizens Savings Bank and The Community Bank with
seventeen banking offices, and an Operations Center located in Ohio serving
Athens, Belmont, Carroll, Fairfield, Harrison, Hocking, Jefferson and Tuscarawas
Counties. The Company trades on The NASDAQ Capital Market tier of the Nasdaq
Stock Market under the symbol UBCP, Cusip #909911109.
UNITED BANCORP, INC. MARTINS FERRY, OH
Symbol "UBCP"
FOR THE THREE MONTHS
ENDED DECEMBER 31,
----------------------- %
2006 2005 CHANGE
---------- ---------- -------
EARNINGS
Total interest income $ 6,423 $ 5,855 9.70%
Total interest expense 3,466 2,607 32.95%
---------- ----------
Net interest income 2,957 3,248 -8.96%
Provision for loan losses 328 84 290.48%
Service charges on deposit accounts 473 366 29.23%
Net realized (losses)/gains of sales on securities 1 (27) -103.70%
Net realized gains on sale of loans 3 5 -40.00%
Other noninterest income 299 269 -14.87%
Total noninterest income 706 613 15.17%
Total noninterest expense 2,543 2,839 -10.43%
Income tax expense 116 174 -33.33%
---------- ----------
Net income 676 $ 764 -11.52%
PER SHARE
Earnings per common share - Basic $ 0.15 $ 0.17 -11.76%
Earnings per common share - Diluted 0.15 0.17 -11.76%
Cash Dividends paid 0.13 0.12 8.33%
SHARES OUTSTANDING
Average - Basic 4,587,000 4,195,294 --
Average - Diluted 4,587,689 4,200,222 --
FOR THE TWELVE MONTHS
ENDED DECEMBER 31,
----------------------- %
2006 2005 CHANGE
---------- ---------- -------
EARNINGS
Total interest income $ 25,279 $ 22,181 13.97%
Total interest expense 12,837 9,146 40.36%
---------- ----------
Net interest income 12,442 13,035 -4.55%
Provision for loan losses 1,384 412 235.92%
Service charges on deposit accounts 1,497 1,339 11.80%
Net realized losses of sales on securities (349) (52) 571.15%
Net realized gains on sale of loans 17 21 -19.05%
Other noninterest income 1,132 1,034 9.48%
Total noninterest income 2,297 2,342 -1.92%
Total noninterest expense 11,046 10,763 2.63%
Income tax expense 241 909 -73.49%
---------- ----------
Net income $ 2,068 $ 3,293 -37.20%
PER SHARE
Earnings per common share - Basic $ 0.45 $ 0.71 -36.62%
Earnings per common share - Diluted 0.45 0.71 -36.62%
Cash Dividends paid 0.48 0.43 11.63%
Book value (end of period) 7.73 7.06 9.49%
SHARES OUTSTANDING
Average - Basic 4,551,256 4,608,809 --
Average - Diluted 4,552,054 4,620,205 --
AT QUARTER END
Total assets $ 422,061 $ 411,933 2.46%
Total assets (average) 414,181 403,174 2.73%
Other real estate and repossessions 794 1,244 -36.17%
Gross loans 231,517 232,011 -0.21%
Allowance for loan losses 2,345 2,904 -19.25%
Net loans 229,172 229,107 0.03%
Net loans charged off 1,936 503 284.89%
Non-performing loans 3,432 1,144 200.00%
Average loans 234,436 224,945 4.22%
Total deposits 330,005 306,915 7.52%
Securities and other restricted stock 156,234 146,514 6.63%
Shareholders' equity 31,100 32,480 -4.25%
Shareholders' equity(average) 31,266 32,885 -4.92%
STOCK DATA
Market value - last close (end of period) $ 9.96 $ 11.05 -9.86%
Dividend payout ratio 106.67% 60.56% 76.12%
Price earnings ratio 16.33X 15.56X 4.91%
KEY PERFORMANCE RATIOS
Return on average assets (ROA) 0.05% 0.82% -38.87%
Return on average equity (ROE) 6.61% 10.01% -33.95%
Net interest margin (FTE) 3.24% 3.59% -9.75%
Interest expense to average assets 4.13% 2.27% 82.17%
Total allowance loans losses to
nonperforming loans 68.33% 253.85% -73.08%
Total allowance loan losses to total loans 1.01% 1.25% -19.08%
Nonperforming loans to total loans 1.48% 0.49% 202.53%
Nonperforming assets to total assets 1.00% 0.58% 72.72%
Certain statements contained herein are not based on historical facts and are
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 21A of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements which are based on various
assumptions (some of which are beyond the Company's control), may be identified
by reference to a future period or periods, or by the use of forward-looking
terminology, such as "may," "will," "believe," "expect," "estimate,"
"anticipate," "continue," or similar terms or variations on those terms, or the
negative of these terms. Actual results could differ materially from those set
forth in forward-looking statements, due to a variety of factors, including, but
not limited to, those related to the economic environment, particularly in the
market areas in which the company operates, competitive products and pricing,
fiscal and monetary policies of the U.S. Government, changes in government
regulations affecting financial institutions, including regulatory fees and
capital requirements, changes in prevailing interest rates, acquisitions and the
integration of acquired businesses, credit risk management, asset/liability
management, changes in the financial and securities markets, including changes
with respect to the market value of our financial assets, and the availability
of and costs associated with sources of liquidity. The Company undertakes no
obligation to update or clarify forward-looking statements, whether as a result
of new information, future events or otherwise.