UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) F THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of Report: April 25, 1995
First Financial Bancorp
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Commission File Number : 0-12499
California (State or other jurisdiction incorporation or organization)
94-28222858 (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)
701 South Ham Lane, Lodi, California (Address of principal executive offices)
95242 (Zip Code)
(209)-367-2000 (Registrant's telephone number, including area code)
NA (Former name or if changed since last report.)
ITEM 5. OTHER EVENTS
Cash Dividend
Please refer to Exhibit 1 which contains the First Financial Bancorp press
release regarding a cash dividend and earnings for the quarter ended
March 31, 1995.
ITEM 7. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND EXHIBITS
Exhibits
(1) Press release dated April 25, 1995
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
First Financial Bancorp
Date April 25, 1995 /s/ David M. Philipp
David M. Philipp
Senior Vice-President & CFO
Corporate Secretary
Exhibit 1 - Press Release
First Financial Bancorp and Bank of Lodi, NA
P R E S S R E L E A S E
For Immediate Release
April 25, 1995
Contact Person:
Leon Zimmerman
Bank of Lodi, NA President and CEO
First Financial Bancorp Declares Cash Dividend
Based upon the earnings for the first quarter of 1995, the First
Financial Bancorp Board of Directors has declared a cash dividend of
$.05 per share, payable May 30, 1995 to shareholders of record on May
15, 1995. First Financial Bancorp and its wholly owned subsidiary, Bank
of Lodi, NA earned $234,000, or $.18 per share for the quarter ended
March 31, 1995. The earnings represent an increase of 100% over the
$116,000, or $.09 per share, earned for the quarter ended March 31,
1994. Return on average assets and average equity increased to .94% and
8.7%, respectively, compared to .47% and 4.4%, respectively, for the
comparable prior year quarter.
The increase in earnings reflects improvement in the bank's core
operations. Net interest margin increased 24%, the provision for loan
losses declined by 43%, and noninterest expenses were stable. These
trends compensated for a decline in income from Small Business
Administration (SBA)lending. The majority of the decline in SBA
lending is related to the attention directed toward the bank's recent
reorganization and expansion of its SBA operations.
Consolidated assets declined by approximately 4.5% from December 31,
1994, reflecting a decline in deposits that has been historically
experienced by the bank during the first quarter in recent years. The
bank's average assets for the first quarter of 1995 exceeded the
comparable prior year quarter by nearly 1.5%, or $1,380,000, while
average earning assets increased over the prior year quarter by nearly
1.7%, or $1,440,000.
The Bank of Lodi, NA began operations in Lodi in 1983 and now provides a
number of financial services to communities in the greater Lodi area
through branches in Lodi, Woodbridge, and Lockeford as well as small
business and mortgage lending departments in Lodi.
END
