Citizens Community Federal N.A. Signs Agreement to Purchase Barron and Rice Lake Branch Assets of Central Bank


EAU CLAIRE, WI--(Marketwired - Oct 15, 2015) - Citizens Community Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: CZWI) (the "Company"), parent company of Citizens Community Federal N.A. (the "Bank"), has entered into a purchase agreement with Central Bank of Golden Valley, Minnesota, to purchase certain assets from, and assume all deposit liabilities of Central Bank's Rice Lake and Barron branch banking operations pending regulatory approval.

Edward H. Schaefer, President and CEO of Citizens Community Federal N.A., states, "We are excited to further expand our footprint in Rice Lake and Barron County and look forward to joining forces with Central Bank's Rice Lake and Barron team members to serve the financial needs of our customers and communities in which we live." The transaction is expected to be finalized in our second fiscal quarter of 2016.

About the Company

Citizens Community Federal N.A. (CCFBank), a wholly owned subsidiary of Citizens Community Bancorp, Inc., is a full-service national bank based in Altoona, Wisconsin, with over $575 million in Assets and serving more than 50,000 customers in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan. To learn more about CCFBank, visit their Facebook page (Citizens Community Federal) or www.ccf.us. The Company's stock trades on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol "CZWI."

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this release are considered "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking words or phrases such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "expect," "intend," "may," "planned," "potential," "should," "will," "would" or the negative of those terms or other words of similar meaning. Such forward-looking statements in this release are inherently subject to many uncertainties arising in the Company's operations and business environment. These uncertainties include general economic conditions, in particular, relating to consumer demand for the Bank's products and services; the Bank's ability to maintain current deposit and loan levels at current interest rates; competitive and technological developments; deteriorating credit quality, including changes in the interest rate environment reducing interest margins; prepayment speeds, loan origination and sale volumes, charge-offs and loan loss provisions; the Bank's ability to maintain required capital levels and adequate sources of funding and liquidity; maintaining capital requirements may limit the Bank's operations and potential growth; changes and trends in capital markets; competitive pressures among depository institutions; effects of critical accounting estimates and judgments; changes in accounting policies or procedures as may be required by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) or other regulatory agencies overseeing the Bank; the Bank's ability to implement its cost-savings and revenue enhancement initiatives, including costs associated with its branch consolidation and new market branch growth initiatives; legislative or regulatory changes or actions or significant litigation adversely affecting the Bank; fluctuation of the Company's stock price; the Bank's ability to attract and retain key personnel; the Bank's ability to secure confidential information through the use of computer systems and telecommunications networks; and the impact of reputational risk created by these developments on such matters as business generation and retention, funding and liquidity. Shareholders, potential investors and other readers are urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating the forward-looking statements and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Such uncertainties and other risks that may affect the Company's performance are discussed further in Part I, Item 1A, "Risk Factors," in the Company's Form 10-K, for the year ended September 30, 2014 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 8, 2014. The Company undertakes no obligation to make any revisions to the forward-looking statements contained in this news release or to update them to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this release.

Contact Information:

For more information contact
Edward H. Schaefer
President/Chief Executive Officer
2174 Eastridge Center
Eau Claire, WI 54701
(715) 836-9994 Ext. 1007

www.ccf.us