GOUVERNEUR, N.Y., July 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Gouverneur Bancorp, Inc. (OTC:GOVB) (BULLETIN BOARD: GOVB) (the "Company"), today announced that it has received approval from the Office of Thrift Supervision for permission to pay a $250,000 dividend payment from Gouverneur Savings and Loan Association (the "Bank") to the Company for the purpose of repurchasing publicly held shares of its common stock. Richard F. Bennett, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company said, "Our stock is currently trading at a substantial discount to book value. Book value per share at June 30, 2009, was approximately $9.45 and our stock is currently trading at less than 70% of that book value. Therefore, we anticipate that the implementation of a stock repurchase program will be accretive to book value per share. This stock repurchase presents a good value to the Company and our stockholders." The Company announced that it expects to commence the stock repurchase within the next few weeks, subject to market conditions and the availability of stock at satisfactory prices. The Company, which is headquartered in Gouverneur, New York, is the holding company for Gouverneur Savings and Loan Association. Founded in 1892, the Bank is a federally chartered savings and loan association offering a variety of banking products and services to individuals and businesses in its primary market area in southern St. Lawrence and northern Lewis and Jefferson Counties in New York State. Statements in this news release contain forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on the beliefs of management as well as assumptions made using information currently available to management. Since these statements reflect the views of management concerning future events, these statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. These risks and uncertainties include among others, the impact of changes in market interest rates and general economic conditions, changes in government regulations, changes in accounting principles and the quality or composition of the loan and investment portfolios. Therefore, actual future results may differ significantly from results discussed in the forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, which include, but are not limited to, factors discussed in the documents filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. DATASOURCE: Gouverneur Bancorp, Inc. CONTACT: Robert J. Twyman, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Gouverneur Bancorp, Inc., +1-315-287-2600

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