National Bankshares, Inc. Reports Higher First Quarter Income

BLACKSBURG, VA, APRIL 12, 2012:  Today, National Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ Capital Market: NKSH) announced net income of almost $4.43 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2012, or 10.06%, above the total reported for the first quarter of 2011.  Basic net income per share was $0.64, which compares with $0.58 for the first three months last year.  The return on average assets for the first quarter was 1.67%, and it was 1.60% for the three months ended March 31, 2011.  The return on average equity was 12.40% and 12.44% for the same two periods.  Total loans at quarter-end, at $585.49 million, were down slightly from the total of $588.88 million at the end of March last year.  Noninterest income was $2.15 million, an 11.27% increase over the $1.93 million at March 31, 2011.  At March 31, 2012, the Company had total assets of $1.08 billion, an increase of 5.58% over the end of the first quarter of 2011 and up slightly from total assets of nearly $1.07 billion at year-end.

National Bankshares’ Chairman, President & CEO James G. Rakes commented, “The increase in our first quarter earnings reflects continued economic recovery for our customers.  We see encouraging indications of loan demand, but that demand remains slower than we would like.  We also see steady growth in most noninterest income categories, and we have been able to contain noninterest expense.”

National Bankshares, Inc., headquartered in Blacksburg, Virginia, is the parent company of National Bank of Blacksburg, which does business as National Bank, and of National Bankshares Financial Services, Inc.  National Bank is a community bank operating from 25 offices throughout Southwest Virginia.  National Bankshares Financial Services, Inc. is an investment and insurance subsidiary in the same trade area.  The Company’s stock is traded on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol “NKSH.”  Additional information is available at www.nationalbankshares.com.

Certain statements in this press release may be “forward-looking statements.”  Forward-looking statements are statements that include projections, predictions, expectations or beliefs about future events or results that are not statements of historical fact and that involve significant risks and uncertainties.  Although the Company believes that its expectations with regard to forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions within the bounds of its existing knowledge of its business and operations, there can be no assurance that actual Company results will not differ materially from any future results implied by the forward-looking statements.  Actual results may be materially different from past or anticipated results because of many factors, some of which may include changes in economic conditions, the interest rate environment, legislative and regulatory requirements, new products, competition, changes in the stock and bond markets and technology.  The Company does not update any forward-looking statements that it may make.