CFHI Coast Finl Hldgs (MM)

Coast Financial Holdings Opens Second Branch in Pinellas County BRADENTON, Fla., March 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Coast Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFHI), parent company of Coast Bank of Florida, today announced it has opened its second branch in Pinellas County. The Pasadena branch is located at 6850 Central Avenue in St. Petersburg, and will house the ninth Coast Bank branch and the company's second of four planned branches in Pinellas County. "Our branch expansion strategy is successfully progressing, and we look forward to an increased presence in one of Florida's fastest growing markets as we open our second St. Petersburg branch," said Brian Peters, president and CEO. "We are enthusiastic about the visibility of the Pasadena branch location and our ability to serve new customers in the community. We are also excited to announce that Terry Lorenz will be the branch manager and VP of the Pasadena branch. Terry, who has spent the past 8 years as a branch manager in St. Petersburg, is a 27-year veteran of the banking industry and will be instrumental in building the banks' presence in this new market." Coast Bank previously announced plans to open two other branch locations in Pinellas County. "Our Kenneth City branch is in the process of being renovated and is scheduled to open at the end of March, and we plan to open our Seminole branch near the end of April," added Peters. Coast Bank has already become actively involved in the local community since opening its first branch in Pinellas County in February. Last weekend, Coast was involved in the Seminole Pow Wow Parade and was a sponsor in the Crawfish Festival. Today, they will be sponsoring the T.W. Curtis Art Display Open House at the Plaza branch, located in downtown St. Petersburg. 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.coastfl.com/ ), operates nine 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 Bank 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 941-752-5900 Brian F. Grimes, EVP and CFO 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/ http://www.coastfl.com/

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