CINCINNATI, Jan. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- First Financial Bancorp (Nasdaq: FFBC - News) announced today that it expects to release fourth quarter and full-year 2008 financial results after the market closes on Wednesday, January 28, 2009. A conference call and webcast to discuss the results will be held on Thursday, January 29, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. (ET).

                      Conference Call & Webcast Details

    Date:  Thursday, January 29, 2009

    Time:  9:00 a.m. ET

Conference Call: Participants should join the live conference call 5 to 10 minutes before its scheduled start. The dial-in number is 800-860-2442. (passcode not required).

Conference Call Replay: A replay of the call will be available approximately one hour after the live call has ended. The dial-in number for the replay is 877-344-7529 (passcode 427 052).

Webcast: www.bankatfirst.com, select Investor Relations.

Archived Webcast: The archived webcast will be available approximately one hour after the live call has ended and will be archived at the company's website for 12 months.

About First Financial Bancorp

First Financial Bancorp is a Cincinnati, Ohio based bank holding company with $3.5 billion in assets. Its banking subsidiary, First Financial Bank, N.A., founded in 1863, provides retail and commercial banking products and services, and investment and insurance products through its 81 retail banking locations in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. The bank's wealth management division, First Financial Wealth Resource Group, provides investment management, traditional trust, brokerage, private banking, and insurance services, and has approximately $1.9 billion in assets under management. Additional information about the company, including its products, services, and banking locations, is available at www.bankatfirst.com.