Old National profit falls, but beats expectations

Second-quarter profit for Old National Bancorp fell 50 percent from the same period a year ago, but the company still managed
to exceed analysts’ expectations.

The Evansville-based parent of Old National Bank this morning announced
profit of $9.6 million, or 15 cents per share, beating analysts’ estimates by 9 cents.

Revenue of $111.9
million was 2.3 percent more than the same time last year.

In a prepared statement, Old National CEO Bob Jones
said the bank is pleased to have beaten the consensus of Wall Street.

“In light of our continued concerns
about the ongoing impacts of the economic downturn, including weak loan demand, we continue to position Old National as a
well capitalized, liquid institution prepared to take advantage of prudent growth opportunities as they arise,” he said.

The company in March completed its $15.9 million acquisition of 65 Charter One retail branches in Indiana from
Providence, R.I.-based Citizens Financial Group.

Old National now has more than 180 bank branches in Indiana,
making it the state’s third-largest bank in terms of retail locations.

Most of its Charter One branches
are in the Indianapolis area. The majority are in stores operated by Kroger, Marsh Supermarkets, Starbucks and Wal-Mart.

The acquisition helped Old National grow deposits as of June 30 to $5.7 billion, a jump of nearly 10 percent from
the end of 2008.

The value of Old National loans, however, declined 10 percent from the first three months of the
year, to $4.2 billion, largely due to a drop in commercial and residential real estate lending. 

The company
also announced a quarterly dividend of 7 cents a share, payable Sept. 15.

In the first quarter, Old National cut
its dividend from 23 cents to 7 cents to help it retain about $10 million in capital during the second quarter, it said.

Shares of Old National were fetching $10.95 in mid-morning trading, up nearly 12 percent on the day.