United Bancorp, Inc. Reports an Increase in Net Income of 41% for the Three Months Ended March 31, 2019; Diluted Earnings Per Share of $0.28 Versus $0.23 Reported in 2018, and a Forward Dividend Yield of 4.88%.

MARTINS FERRY, Ohio: United Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: UBCP), reported net income of $1,614,000 and diluted earnings per share of $0.28 for the three months ended March 31, 2019, as compared to $1,148,000 and $0.23 respectively for 2018. These year-over-year improvements in UBCP's earnings are directly related to the Company executing its strategic vision to achieve profitable growth by growing in both an organic fashion and through acquiring other like-minded community banking organizations.

Randall M. Greenwood, Senior Vice President, CFO and Treasurer remarked, "We are pleased to report on our solid financial performance for the three-month period ended March 31, 2019. Our Company had an increase in net income of $466,000, or 40.6%, on a year-over-year basis at the end of this most recently completed quarter. This increase in earnings is strongly correlated to the strong organic and acquisition-related growth that our Company experienced during the past twelve months. From an acquisition perspective (and, as previously reported), we acquired Powhatan Point Community Bancshares in the fourth quarter of last year and the merger is now completed... both financially and operationally. Even with the issuance of common shares to facilitate this purchase, our diluted earnings per share was $0.28 versus $0.23 the prior year, an increase of 21.7%. The combination of this acquisition and the strong organic growth that we achieved this past year facilitated the increase in the level of our Company's higher-yielding earning assets by $112.5 million, or 25.2%, on a year-over-year basis. This growth in earning assets was divided between steady growth in our Company's loan portfolio, which increased by $43.4 million or 11.7%, and solid growth in our investment portfolio, with securities and other restricted stock increasing by $69.1 million or 92%. With our increased level of higher-yielding earning assets, our Company saw a year-over-year increase in the level of interest income that it generated of $1.7 million or 36.6%."

Greenwood further stated, "In order to fund this strong growth in our earning assets--- while improving our overall levels of profitability--- our Company needed to attract a substantial level of cost effective funding. We achieved this by successfully growing our lower-cost, retail balances (consisting of noninterest bearing and interest bearing demand deposits and savings deposits) by $91.6 million, or 27%, year-over-year. The...