BASIS OF PRESENTATION

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2011

BASIS OF PRESENTATION

NOTE 1:  BASIS OF PRESENTATION

The consolidated financial statements of First Financial, a bank holding company, include the accounts of First Financial and its wholly-owned subsidiaries – First Financial Bank, N.A. and First Financial Capital Advisors LLC.  All intercompany transactions and accounts have been eliminated in consolidation.  Certain reclassifications of prior periods’ amounts have been made to conform to current period’s presentation and had no effect on previously reported net income amounts or financial condition.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) requires management to make estimates, assumptions, and judgments that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes.  Actual realized amounts could differ materially from those estimates.  These interim financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X and serve to update the First Financial Bancorp. Annual Report on Form 10-K (Form 10-K) for the year ended December 31, 2010.  These financial statements may not include all information and notes necessary to constitute a complete set of financial statements under GAAP applicable to annual periods and accordingly should be read in conjunction with the financial information contained in the Form 10-K.  Management believes these unaudited consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments of a normal recurring nature which are necessary for a fair presentation of the results for the interim periods presented.  The results of operations for the interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the full year or any other interim period.  The Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2010, has been derived from the audited financial statements in the company’s 2010 Form 10-K.