CFHI Coast Finl Hldgs (MM)

Coast Financial Holdings Opens First Branch in Pinellas County; Announces Plans to Add 36 ATM Locations in Pinellas, Manatee and Sarasota Counties BRADENTON, Fla., Feb. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Coast Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFHI), parent company of Coast Bank of Florida, today announced it has opened its first branch in Pinellas County. The branch is located in the 15-story Plaza building at 111 2nd Avenue NE in Downtown St. Petersburg, and will house the eighth Coast Bank branch and the company's first of four planned branches in Pinellas County. Coast also announced plans to add 36 new stand alone kiosk ATM locations in Pinellas, Manatee and Sarasota Counties. "We are enthusiastic about the visibility of the new location in the heart of St. Petersburg, and our ability to serve new customers in the community," said Brian Peters, president and CEO. "We believe our brand of banking will prove popular with Pinellas County consumers just as it has in Manatee County." Coast has leased approximately 5,900 square feet for the retail branch, which has space to house a commercial and a residential lender and the Pinellas County region manager. "As we open this first branch in St. Petersburg, we look forward to an increased presence in this core market," added Peters. "New branches and ATM's are an excellent way to attract deposits while greatly increasing convenience for our customers. We will provide the St. Petersburg market place with Coast Bank's full range of commercial and consumer lending products." Coast previously announced plans to open three other branch locations in Pinellas County. All of the regulatory approvals necessary to open these branches have been obtained and they expect them to open during the first quarter of 2005. About the Company As of December 31, 2004, Coast Financial Holdings, Inc. had $385 million in total assets and through its banking subsidiary, Coast Bank of Florida (http://www.coastbankflorida.com/), operates eight full-service banking locations in Manatee and Pinellas County, Florida. Coast Bank of Florida is a general commercial bank that provides full-service banking operations to its customers from its headquarters location and from branch offices in Bradenton, Palmetto, Longboat Key and St. Petersburg. Through an arrangement with Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., Coast makes asset and investment management services and insurance products available to its customers. This press release and other statements to be made by the Company contain certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, including but not limited to statements relating to projections and estimates of earnings, revenues, cost-savings, expenses, or other financial items; statements of management's plans, strategies, and objectives for future operations, and management's expectations as to future performance and operations and the time by which objectives will be achieved; statements concerning proposed new products and services; and statements regarding future economic, industry, or market conditions or performance. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words or phrases such as "believe," expect," anticipate," project," and conditional verbs such as "may," "could," and "would," and other similar expressions or verbs. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current expectations, beliefs, estimates, and projections regarding the Company, its industry and future events, and are based upon certain assumptions made by management. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and necessarily are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors (many of which are outside the control of the Company) that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These risks, uncertainties, and other factors include, among others: changes in general economic or business conditions, either nationally or in the State of Florida, changes in the interest rate environment, the Company's ability to successfully open and operate new branches and collect on delinquent loans, changes in the regulatory environment, and other risks described in the Company's Form 10-KSB for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2003 and as described from time to time by the Company in other reports filed by it with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statement speaks only to the date on which the statement is made, and the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. If the Company does update any forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that the Company will make additional updates with respect to that statement or any other forward-looking statements. Contacts: Brian P. Peters, President and CEO Brian F. Grimes, EVP and CFO 941-752-5900 941-752-5900 DATASOURCE: Coast Financial Holdings, Inc. CONTACT: Brian P. Peters, President and CEO, , or Brian F. Grimes, EVP and CFO, , both of Coast Financial Holdings, Inc., +1-941-752-5900 Web site: http://www.coastbankflorida.com/

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