Bank Director Magazine 2012 Bank Performance Scorecard Recognizes Commercial National Financial Corporation With #1 Ranking In Pennsylvania And #2 Ranking Nationwide In The Under $1 Billion Asset Category

LATROBE, Pa., Aug. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Commercial National Financial Corporation (OTCQB:CNAF), was recently ranked as #1 in Pennsylvania and #2 nationwide in the under $1 billion asset category in the Bank Director magazine's 2012 Bank Performance Scorecard. Commercial National Financial Corporation ("Company") is the holding company of banking subsidiary, Commercial Bank & Trust of PA.

Bank Director magazine's 2012 Bank Performance Scorecard is a comprehensive ranking of all banks and thrifts traded on the NYSE or NASDAQ exchanges. This year's ranking was divided into four asset size categories: $50 Billion and Above, $5 Billion to $50 Billion, $1 Billion to $5 Billion and Below $1 Billion.

According to the Bank Director magazine, as in previous years, the 2012 Bank Performance Scorecard used five key metrics that measure profitability (core return on average assets and core return on average equity); capital strength (ratio of tangible common equity to tangible assets); and asset quality (ratio of nonperforming assets to loans and real estate owned, and the ratio of net charge offs to average loans). For scoring purposes, the ROAA, ROAE and TCE scores were given a full weighting, and the two asset quality metrics were given a half-weighting. The five category scores were then added across and the sum equaled each bank's final score.

Jack Milligan, Bank Director magazine editor, said, "Because the Scorecard ranks banks based on the combination of profitability, capitalization and asset quality, institutions that do well often have good marks on all five metrics rather than place first in any one category. The relationship between return on average equity (ROAE) and tangible capital is particularly telling. A bank that has a high ROAE in part because it has less capital than other institutions in its size category might have a lower final score than those banks that have somewhat lower ROAEs but higher tangible capital ratios." Mr. Milligan also observed, "The key to doing well on the Scorecard is to be highly profitable and well capitalized, instead of being more highly leveraged."

"We think this is a very balanced way to look at a company in the banking industry," says Mark Fitzgibbon, a principal and director of research at Sandler O'Neill + Partners in New York. As it has in past years, Sandler O'Neill performed the analysis and constructed the 2012 Scorecard ranking, using data provided to it by SNL Financial LC in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The full article can be accessed online at www.bankdirector.com.

In addition to Latrobe, Pennsylvania where it is headquartered, the Company operates community-banking facilities in Greensburg, Hempfield Township, Ligonier, North Huntingdon, Unity Township and West Newton, Pennsylvania and also maintains a commercial business development sales force throughout its entire market area. The Company operates an asset management and trust division of Commercial Bank & Trust of PA headquartered in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Commercial Bank & Trust of PA also serves its customer base from an Internet banking site (www.cbthebank.com) and an automated TouchTone Teller banking system.

Safe Harbor Statement

Forward-looking statements (statements which are not historical facts) in this release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. For this purpose, any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, words such as "may," "will," "to," "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "could," "would," "estimate," or "continue" or the negative or other variations thereof or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are based on information currently available to the Company, and the Company assumes no obligation to update these statements as circumstances change. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainties, including changes in general economic and financial market conditions, unforeseen credit problems, and the Company's ability to execute its business plans.  The actual results of future events could differ materially from those stated in any forward-looking statements herein.

SOURCE Commercial National Financial Corporation