ASB Bancorp Announces Share Repurchase Program

Oct 8 - ASB Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ GM: ASBB) has announced that the company's board of directors approved a stock repurchase program whereby the company may repurchase as much as 5 percent, or 279,228 shares, of its outstanding common stock either on the open market or through private transactions, as and when deemed appropriate by management and under any plan that may be deployed in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The Rule 10b5-1 repurchase plan allows the company to repurchase its shares during periods when it would normally not be active in the market due to its internal trading blackout period. The company expects the share repurchases to commence on or after Oct. 12, 2012, the one-year anniversary of Asheville Savings Bank, S.S.B.'s mutual-to-stock conversion. 

ASB Bancorp is the parent company of Asheville Savings Bank, S.S.B., a North Carolina-chartered stock savings bank with a community focus offering traditional financial services through 13 full-service banking centers located in Buncombe, Madison, McDowell, Henderson and Transylvania counties in Western North Carolina.