OVBC Liquidates ProCentury Investment

OVBC Liquidates ProCentury Investment 


GALLIPOLIS, Ohio, April 26  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ohio Valley Banc Corp. 
announced today the sale of 450,000 common shares of ProCentury Corp.,  a
Columbus-based property and casualty insurer.  The transaction was completed as
part of ProCentury's initial public offering.  The sale of stock, which
represents 100% of OVBC's ownership in ProCentury, will result in a pre-tax
gain of nearly $2.5 million, or $1.6 million after taxes ($.47 cents per
share).  OVBC's investment in ProCentury was made in October of 2000 to allow
OVBC to diversify operations by becoming part of a property and casualty
insurance underwriter as made permissible by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of
1999.  OVBC decided to liquidate the investment to utilize the cash proceeds to
enhance OVBC's core business of banking through branch renovations and
expansion as discussed in the first quarter's earnings release.

Ohio Valley Banc Corp. common stock is traded on The NASDAQ Stock Market under
the symbol OVBC.  The holding company owns three subsidiaries: Ohio Valley
Bank, with 17 offices in Ohio and West Virginia; Loan Central, with five
consumer finance company offices in Ohio, and Ohio Valley Financial Services,
an insurance agency based in Jackson, Ohio. The company's Web site is
http://www.ovbc.com/ .

Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements contained in this release which are not statements of
historical fact constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "believes,"
"anticipates," "expects," "intends," "targeted" and similar expressions are
intended to identify forward-looking statements but are not the exclusive means
of identifying those statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and
uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those predicted by the
forward-looking statements because of various factors and possible events,
including: (i) changes in political, economic or other factors such as
inflation rates, recessionary or expansive trends, and taxes; (ii) competitive
pressures; (iii) fluctuations in interest rates; (iv) the level of defaults and
prepayment on loans; (v) unanticipated litigation, claims, or assessments; (vi)
fluctuations in the cost of obtaining funds to make loans; and (vii) regulatory
changes. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are
made and Ohio Valley undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking
statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which the
statement is made to reflect unanticipated events.

Contact:  Scott Shockey, CFO or Bryna Butler, Corporate Communications
1-800-468-6682 or [phone] 

DATASOURCE: Ohio Valley Banc Corp



Contact:  Scott Shockey, CFO or Bryna Butler, Corporate Communications,

[phone], or [phone], both of Ohio Valley Banc Corp 



Web site:  http://www.ovbc.com/ 

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