CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., Oct. 27, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- First Security Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:FSGI), a community bank holding company serving middle and eastern Tennessee and northern Georgia, today announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a quarterly cash dividend on the Company's common stock. A dividend of $0.025 per share will be payable on December 16, 2005 to shareholders of record on December 1, 2005. The Board has also authorized management to establish a Dividend Reinvestment Plan for First Security's shareholders.
Rodger B. Holley, First Security's Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer said, "This is an important occasion for First Security and its shareholders. We are pleased to announce our first dividend; we consider this to be another opportunity to enhance shareholder value. In this environment, cash dividends are increasingly prized. We believe our stock will perform better and appeal to a wider investor audience if we commence this dividend payment early in our life as a public company."
The Board also authorized the Company to repurchase up to 500,000 shares of its common stock in open market transactions over the next six months. The common stock will be used to provide shares under First Security's Employee Stock Ownership Plan and matching contributions for the 401(k) program. Mr. Holley continued, "It gives me great pleasure to acknowledge and reward the hard work of our employees with enhancements to our benefit programs that will enable our employees to become partners in our company's progress."
About First Security Group, Inc:
First Security Group, Inc. is a bank holding company headquartered in Chattanooga, TN with $1.1 billion in assets. Founded in 1999, First Security's community bank subsidiary, FSGBank, N.A. has 35 full-service banking offices along the interstate corridors of middle and eastern Tennessee and northern Georgia. In Dalton, GA, FSGBank operates five full-service banking offices under the name of Dalton Whitfield Bank and two offices under the name of Primer Banco Seguro (PBS); PBS serves the region's rapidly growing Latino population. FSGBank also operates under the name of Jackson Bank & Trust along the I-40 corridor. FSGBank provides retail and commercial banking services, trust and investment management, mortgage banking, asset-based lending, financial planning, Internet banking (www.FSGBank.com) and equipment leasing through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Kenesaw Leasing, Inc. and J & S Leasing, Inc.
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, referred to from time to time in filings made by First Security with the Securities and Exchange Commission. First Security undertakes no obligation to update or clarify forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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