1 MAHONING NATIONAL BANCORP, INC. FORM 10-K EXHIBIT 99(a) Report of Independent Certified Public Accountants. Predecessor Auditors Report for the year ended December 31, 1995. 2 700 One Prudential Plaza 130 E. Randolph Drive Chicago, IL 60601-6203 312 856-0200 REPORT OF INDEPENDENT CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS -------------------------------------------------- [GRANT THORNTON LOGO] GRANT THORNTON LLP Accountants And Management Consultants The U.S. Member Firm of Grant Thornton International Board of Directors and Stockholders Mahoning National Bancorp, Inc. We have audited the accompanying consolidated statements of income, changes in stockholders' equity and cash flows of Mahoning National Bancorp, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiary, The Mahoning National Bank of Youngstown for the year ended December 31, 1995. These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audit. We conducted our audit in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion. In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the consolidated results of operations and cash flows for Mahoning National Bancorp, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiary, The Mahoning National Bank of Youngstown for the year ended December 31, 1995, in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles. /S/ GRANT THORNTON LLP Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania January 19, 1996