CFHI Coast Finl Hldgs (MM)

Coast Financial Holdings, Inc. Announces Pinellas County Expansion BRADENTON, Fla., Nov. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Coast Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFHI), parent company of Coast Bank of Florida (Bank), today announced plans to continue the Bank's expansion by adding four locations in adjacent Pinellas County, subject to regulatory approval. The expansion plans in Pinellas County call for the lease or acquisition and re- opening of four existing bank branch locations previously occupied by other banks. The locations include Downtown St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg, Kenneth City and Seminole. "This is an excellent opportunity to expand our franchise into the Pinellas market and improve shareholder value through cost-effective branching," commented Brian P. Peters, President and CEO. "We believe we bring unique and valuable products and services to a market that has largely been disrupted by a string of acquisitions by out-of-state banks. Our management team has significant experience in the Pinellas market and we are confident in our ability to successfully grow the franchise in that market. By leasing or acquiring existing bank branch facilities, rather than new construction, we should be able to reduce the cost and shorten the timeframe required to open a new location. "We have had great success when we have used this strategy in Manatee County and believe we can achieve similar success in Pinellas," said Peters. "We will continue to evaluate expansion opportunities in Manatee County, although current options are limited to the construction of new branch facilities. As a result, we began evaluating options in adjacent markets and through that process identified Pinellas as an excellent alternative. We will continue to evaluate adjacent markets to identify growth opportunities that can be cost effectively implemented," concluded Peters. About the Company As of September 30, 2004, Coast Financial Holdings, Inc. had $358 million in total assets and through its banking subsidiary, Coast Bank of Florida (http://www.coastbankflorida.com/ ), operates seven full-service banking locations in Manatee 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 and Longboat Key. 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 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/

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