BHWB Blackhawk Bancorp Inc (QX)

BELOIT, Wis., Oct. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Blackhawk Bancorp, Inc.  (OTCBB: BHWB) today announced that it will be exiting the TARP program upon the closing of the U.S. Treasury's auction of its preferred stock.  The transaction is expected to close on or about October 31, 2012.  In the transaction, the U.S. Treasury sold 10,000 shares of Blackhawk Bancorp's Fixed Rate Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series B for $910.00 per share and 500 shares of Blackhawk Bancorp's Fixed Rate Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series C for $950.00 per share.

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In March of 2009 the company received $10 million in capital under the U.S. Treasury's voluntary Capital Purchase Program, a part of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which was designed to provide capital to healthy financial institutions to promote confidence and stabilization in the economy.  "The program worked for us" said Rick Bastian, president & CEO. "It helped a healthy bank like Blackhawk enhance its capital levels giving us the confidence to keep lending when it was most needed by our markets," he added.  Blackhawk has grown its loan portfolio by $32.5 million, or 10%, from March 31, 2009, the quarter it received the investment, to September 30, 2012. 

In addition to the $9,575,000 in proceeds the Treasury will receive on the sale of the securities, they also received $1,930,000 in cash dividends, for a total of $11,505,000 on their initial $10,000,000 investment.  To date, the Treasury has recovered $267 billion from TARP's bank programs through repayments, dividends, interest, and other income compared to the $245 billion initially invested. "This was a win-win, said Bastian, "Our communities won with available lending and taxpayers won with a good return on their investment.  Further, our performance over this period made our securities attractive to private investors.  The TARP program has been a success for assisting healthy banks." 

About Blackhawk Bancorp

Blackhawk Bancorp, Inc. is headquartered in Beloit, Wisconsin and is the parent company of Blackhawk Bank, which operates eight banking centers in south central Wisconsin and north central Illinois, along the I-90 corridor from Belvidere, Illinois to Beloit, Wisconsin.  Blackhawk's locations serve individuals and small businesses, primarily with fewer than 200 employees.  The company offers a variety of value-added consultative services to small businesses and their employees related to its banking products such as health savings accounts and investment management.

Forward-Looking Statements

When used in this communication, the words "believes," "expects," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The company's actual results may differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Factors which could cause such a variance to occur include, but are not limited to: heightened competition; adverse state and federal regulation; failure to obtain new or retain existing customers; ability to attract and retain key executives and personnel; changes in interest rates; unanticipated changes in industry trends; unanticipated changes in credit quality and risk factors, including general economic conditions; success in gaining regulatory approvals when required; changes in the Federal Reserve Board monetary policies; unexpected outcomes of new and existing litigation in which Blackhawk or its subsidiaries, officers, directors or employees is named defendants; technological changes; changes in accounting principles generally accepted in the United States; changes in assumptions or conditions affecting the application of "critical accounting policies"; and the inability of third party vendors to perform critical services for the company or its customers.

Further information is available on the Company's website at www.blackhawkbank.com.

SOURCE Blackhawk Bancorp, Inc.