EXHIBIT 99
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HOME LOAN FINANCIAL CORPORATION
401 Main Street
Coshocton, Ohio 43812
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Robert C. Hamilton, Chairman of the Board, President,
Chief Executive Officer
Preston W. Bair, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer,
Chief Financial Officer
Telephone: 740-622-0444
HOME LOAN FINANCIAL CORPORATION ANNOUNCES
REVERSE STOCK SPLIT TO END SEC REPORTING
(Coshocton, Ohio) - May 18, 2005 - Home Loan Financial Corporation
("HLFC"), announced today that its Board of Directors has approved a plan to end
the Corporation's obligation to file reports with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (the "SEC"). This would be accomplished through a 1-for-600 reverse
split of HLFC's common stock to be followed immediately by a 600-for-1 forward
split. In the split transactions, stockholders with fewer than 600 common shares
of HLFC held of record in their name immediately before the split transactions
will receive a cash payment equal to $20.75 per pre-split share. Stockholders
holding 600 or more shares of HLFC common stock immediately before the split
transactions will not receive a cash payment and will continue to hold the same
number of shares after completion of the split transaction.
When the split transactions are completed, HLFC expects to have fewer
than 300 stockholders of record, thereby qualifying to deregister its common
stock under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. As a result, the Corporation
would not be required to file periodic reports and other information with the
Securities and Exchange Commission as long as it has fewer than 300 shareholders
of record. If HLFC deregisters its common stock and suspends reporting
obligations under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the common stock will
cease to be eligible for trading on NASDAQ. However, the Corporation anticipates
that its common stock will be quoted on the OTC Bulletin Board or in the Pink
Sheets, to the extent market makers continue to make a market in its shares.
"Our Board of Directors decided to take this action," said Robert C.
Hamilton, HLFC's President and CEO, "because we believe that the advantages of
continuing as a public company are far outweighed by the cost. As a public
reporting company, Home Loan Financial Corporation incurs significant
accounting, legal and administrative costs that are associated with compliance
with the SEC's reporting requirements. Those costs are expected to increase if
the
Corporation remains public and is required to implement the internal
controls requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the 2006 fiscal year. We
believe that the cost savings we will realize by going private will have a
positive impact on the Corporation's results of operation and will allow
management to focus more of its attention on the Corporation's business."
The Board of Directors has received a fairness opinion from its
financial advisor, Keller & Company, Inc., that the cash consideration of $20.75
per share to be paid in the proposed split transaction to record stockholders
owning fewer than 600 shares is fair, from a financial point of view, to the
Corporation's stockholders.
The proposed split transactions are subject to approval by the holders
of a majority of the issued and outstanding common shares of Home Loan Financial
Corporation. Stockholders will be asked to approve the split transactions at a
special meeting of stockholders, currently expected to be held in the third
quarter of 2005. Home Loan Financial Corporation has filed a preliminary proxy
statement and Schedule 13E-3 with the SEC outlining the transaction. Home Loan
Financial Corporation will also mail a copy of the definitive proxy statement
prior to the meeting to its stockholders entitled to vote at the meeting.
Home Loan Financial Corporation, headquartered at 401 Main Street,
Coshocton, Ohio, is the holding company of The Home Loan Savings Bank. The Home
Loan Savings Bank offers a full line of banking and financial brokerage services
to its customers through four full service branches. The Home Loan Savings Bank
has two offices in Coshocton, Ohio, an office in West Lafayette, Ohio and a
branch in Mount Vernon, Ohio. The Corporation is traded on the NASDAQ-NM under
the symbol "HLFC."
When used in this release, the words or phrases "will likely result,"
"are expected to," "will continue," "is anticipated," "estimate," "project,"
"believe" or similar expressions are intended to identify "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995. The Corporation wishes to caution readers not to place undue reliance
on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made,
and to advise readers that various factors, including regional and national
economic conditions, changes in levels of market interest rates, credit risks of
lending activities and competitive and regulatory factors, could affect the
Corporation's financial performance and could cause the Corporation's actual
results for future periods to differ materially from those anticipated or
projected. The Corporation undertakes no obligation to update any
forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances that arise after
the date such statements are made.