National Bankshares, Inc. Reports Higher First Half Earnings

BLACKSBURG, VA, July 19, 2012:  Today, National Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ Capital Market: NKSH) announced net income of over $4.34 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2012.  Net income was approaching $8.77 million through June 30, 2012, or nearly 6.42%, above the total reported for the first half of 2011.  Basic earnings per share were $1.26, which compares with $1.19 for the first six months last year.  The return on average assets for the first half of 2012 was 1.64%, and it was 1.63% for the six months ended June 30, 2011.  The return on average equity was 12.15% and 12.48% for the same two periods.  At June 30, 2012, the Company had total assets of almost $1.09 billion, an increase of 5.16% over the end of the first half of 2011 and up slightly from total assets of $1.07 billion at year-end.

National Bankshares’ Chairman, President & CEO James G. Rakes commented, “While we expect the second half of 2012 to remain challenging due to economic factors, low rates and regulatory headwinds, we are poised to expand our lending activity as local economic conditions improve.  We are working to deliver the best services and products we can to our customers, manage expense growth prudently and focus on asset quality.”

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.