First Financial Bancorp to Pay Cash Dividend

CINCINNATI,Aug. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — First Financial Bancorp (Nasdaq: FFBC) announced today that the board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of 10 cents per share on August 25, 2009. The dividend will be payable on October 1, 2009 to shareholders of record as of September 4, 2009.

First Financial Bancorp has paid a cash dividend every quarter since the formation of the holding company in April 1983.

About First Financial Bancorp

Established in 1983, First Financial Bancorp is a Cincinnati, Ohio based bank holding company with $3.8 billion in assets. Its banking subsidiary, First Financial Bank, N.A., founded in 1863, provides retail and commercial banking products and services, and investment and insurance products at 101 banking centers in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. First Financial Wealth Resource Group, the company’s wealth management line of business, has $1.7 billion under management and provides investment management, traditional trust, private banking, and insurance services. Additional information about the company, including its products, services, and banking locations, is available at www.bankatfirst.com/investor.

SOURCE First Financial Bancorp