CFHI Coast Finl Hldgs (MM)

BRADENTON, Fla., Oct. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Coast Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFHI), parent company of Coast Bank of Florida, today reported that strong loan and deposit growth contributed to earnings for the quarter ended September 30, 2005. Net income was $106,000, or $0.03 per diluted share, compared to $269,000, or $0.07 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2004. Following a $1.3 million provision for loan losses in the second quarter of 2005, Coast Financial reported a loss of $775,000, or $0.21 per diluted share, for the nine months ended September 30, 2005, compared to earnings of $513,000, or $0.14 per diluted share, for the same period a year earlier. More financial information can be found in the Company's third quarter 10-Q previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. "We believe that we are successfully growing our franchise, and over the past year have added branches to our network and expanded our ATM delivery channel to better serve our new and existing customers," said Brian Peters, president and CEO. "Our focus will continue to be to improve shareholder value through continued, profitable growth. Tampa Bay is a robust market today, with employment up 3.7% this year, fueled by new employers moving into the Tampa area from higher cost markets. A friendly business climate and an efficient infrastructure are further draws in the area. We believe our franchise expansion will afford solid opportunities for our growth in the coming years." "In the last nine months we have opened four branches in Pinellas County. To staff these new office locations and take advantage of other opportunities in key market areas, we have hired a number of exceptional bankers and loan officers. Already, we have started to generate strong loans and deposits from the new locations. We are also moving forward with our previously announced plans to lease eight sites in the greater Tampa Bay area. This expansion will mark our entrance into Hillsborough and Polk counties as well as increase our presence in Pinellas and Manatee counties, by adding three branches in Hillsborough County, two branches in Polk County, two branches in Pinellas County and one branch in Manatee County. While these new locations will increase overhead expenses and temporarily decrease our short-term profitability, they should contribute to solid profitability within the next few years," said Peters. Coast also announced plans to add 47 kiosk ATM locations in Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk and Manatee Counties. "ATM's are an excellent way to attract core deposits while greatly increasing convenience for our customers," said Peters. "We expect to have 34 ATM locations operating by the end of the year, and the remaining 13 open in the first quarter of 2006." About the Company As of September 30, 2005, Coast Financial Holdings, Inc. had $483 million in total assets and through its banking subsidiary, Coast Bank of Florida (http://www.coastfl.com/), operates 12 full-service banking locations in Manatee and Pinellas County, Florida. Coast Bank of Florida is a commercial bank that provides full-service banking operations to its customers from its headquarters location and from branch offices in Bradenton, Palmetto, Longboat Key, Seminole, Kenneth City and St. Petersburg. 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, 2004 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 877-COASTFL Brian F. Grimes, EVP and CFO 877-COASTFL 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., 1-877-COASTFL Web site: http://www.coastfl.com/

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