CINCINNATI, Jan. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- First Financial Bancorp (Nasdaq: FFBC) announced today that it has commenced a registered offering of its common shares. Due to federal regulations on communication during the pendency of an offer, the company has elected to cancel its earnings call and webcast scheduled for 9:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday, January 27, 2010. For information with respect to results of operations for the fourth quarter and full-year 2009, please refer to the company's Form 8-K filed on January 26, 2010.

About First Financial Bancorp

First Financial Bancorp is a Cincinnati, Ohio based bank holding company. At December 31, 2009, the company had $6.7 billion in assets, including $4.8 billion in total loans and $5.4 billion in deposits. Its banking subsidiary, First Financial Bank, N.A., founded in 1863, provides consumer and commercial banking products and services, and investment and insurance products through its retail banking center network. Currently First Financial Bank, N.A. operates 127 banking centers. Its strategic operating markets are located within the four state regions of Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Michigan where it operates 118 banking centers. The bank's wealth management division, First Financial Wealth Resource Group, provides investment management, traditional trust, brokerage, private banking, and insurance services, and had approximately $2.2 billion in assets under management at December 31, 2009. Additional information about the company, including its products, services, and banking locations, is available at www.bankatfirst.com/investor.

SOURCE First Financial Bancorp