GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., April 12, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- At a meeting held April 11, 2006, the Board of Directors of Mercantile Bank Corporation (Nasdaq: MBWM) declared a second quarter cash dividend of $0.13 per share on the Corporation's common stock. The dividend is payable on June 9, 2006 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on May 17, 2006. After giving effect to the five percent stock dividend paid on August 1, 2005 and the five percent stock dividend to be paid on May 16, 2006, this represents a 30.3 percent increase over the cash dividend paid in the second quarter of 2005.
Gerald R. Johnson, Mercantile's Chairman and CEO, stated, "We are pleased to provide our shareholders with this substantive cash dividend increase. We take pride in our continued ability to grow the Company's earnings so that we may reward shareholders commensurately, even while we expand the Mercantile franchise beyond our traditional West Michigan footprint."
About Mercantile Bank Corporation
Mercantile Bank Corporation is the bank holding company for Mercantile Bank of Michigan. The Bank's primary service area is the Kent and Ottawa County area of West Michigan, which includes the City of Grand Rapids, the second-largest city in the State of Michigan. The Bank provides a wide variety of commercial banking services primarily to businesses, individuals, and governmental units through its five full-service banking offices in greater Grand Rapids, and its full-service banking offices in Holland, Lansing, and Ann Arbor, Michigan. Mercantile Bank Corporation's common stock is listed on the NASDAQ National Market under the symbol "MBWM."
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains comments or information that constitute forward-looking statements (within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) that are based on current expectations that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from the results expressed in forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such a difference include changes in interest rates and interest rate relationships; demand for products and services; the degree of competition by traditional and non-traditional competitors; changes in banking regulation; changes in tax laws; changes in prices, levies, and assessments; the impact of technological advances; governmental and regulatory policy changes; the outcomes of contingencies; trends in customer behavior as well as their ability to repay loans; changes in the national and local economy; and other factors, including risk factors, disclosed from time to time in filings made by Mercantile with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Mercantile undertakes no obligation to update or clarify forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.