Published: April 28, 2008 10:51 pm         

First Financial releases first quarter results

First Financial Corp. recently announced net income for the three months ending March 31 of $6.95 million. This is an 8.2 percent improvement over the $6.42 million reported for the same period of 2007.

Earnings per share increased 10.4 percent to $0.53, an increase of $0.05 per average share outstanding. Return on assets and return on equity for 2008 were 1.23 percent and 9.62 percent as compared with 1.18 and 9.36 for 2007. The corporation increased net interest income for the first quarter of 2008 by $499 thousand or 2.7 percent over the same period of 2007. This was accomplished during a period in which the Federal Reserve Bank decreased the federal funds rate 2 percent, putting pressure on margins.

Non-interest income improved by 6.2 percent or $502 thousand over 2007, while the increase in non-interest expense was $366 thousand or 2.3 percent. The overall efficiency ratio of the corporation improved by 6.82 percent to 51.27 percent.

Total assets of the corporation grew 4.3 percent to $2.3 billion at March 31, 2008, with deposits increasing $77.4 million or 5.1 percent from March 31, 2007. Loans grew by $33.2 million and shareholders’ equity increased $16.3 million over the same period.

The 2008 book value per share of the corporation’s stock increased $1.44 or 6.9 percent to $22.38 from $20.94 at March 31.

First Financial Corp. is the holding company for First Financial Bank NA in Indiana and Illinois, Morris Plan Co. of Terre Haute and Forrest Sherer Inc. in Indiana.