Apr. 24--The owner of Ephrata National Bank isn't in the same boat as many other banking companies.

So ENB Financial Corp. is charting a different course than they are.

The company said Thursday it will maintain its common stock dividend of 31 cents a share, payable June 15 to shareholders of record May 15.

Coming after a moderate dip in first-quarter profits, ENB's decision contrasts with the actions of many banking firms, which have slashed their dividends in the wake of losses or miniscule profits.

"At this point, we're still sailing straight forward," said Scott E. Lied, ENB chief financial officer. "As long as we have sufficient earnings and capital to continue our healthy dividend, we'll do that."

ENB last week posted a 22.5 percent drop in net profits for the first quarter to $1.08 million, due to a $403,000 increase in FDIC insurance expense.

That followed a slip of 20.7 percent in 2008 net profits to $4.0 million, largely due to a $1.7 million charge for business process improvements.

"We took some hits, just like everybody else, but not to the extremes that some of the others had," said Lied. "Sure, the economic environment is impacting us and sure, the FDIC insurance is impacting us. But we're weathering the storm."

Among the banking firms to announce dividend reductions of 70 percent or more this spring to conserve capital are many major Lancaster County players.

They include locally based Fulton Financial and Susquehanna Bancshares, plus PNC, Wachovia owner Wells Fargo and HomeTowne Heritage owner National Penn Bancshares.

Lancaster-based Union National stopped paying a dividend last year.

Lied was optimistic that ENB profits would increase this year, in part due to the benefits of the business process improvements put in place last year.

These consisted of a staff realignment, which led to a net reduction of 17 jobs, and revenue-boosting measures. Combined, they are expected to net $750,000 to $1 million in savings and extra revenue annually, he said.

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