First Mutual Bancshares Declares $0.09 Per Share Quarterly Cash Divide

    Business Editors

    BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 28, 2005--First Mutual Bancshares, Inc. (Nasdaq:FMSB) announced today its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.09 per share. The dividend is payable on April 6, to shareholders of record on March 16, 2005.
    Last month, First Mutual reported that 2004 net income was up 11% over the previous year to $9.3 million, or $1.68 per diluted share. The fourth quarter marked First Mutual's 49th consecutive quarter of year-over-year earnings growth, as well as the first time total assets surpassed $1 billion.
    First Mutual's consistent performance has garnered attention from a number of sources. In 2004, the company was ranked #23 in the Top 200 Publicly Traded Banks with less than $1 billion in assets by U.S. Banker magazine, based on its three-year return on equity. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods named First Mutual to its Honor Roll for the company's 10-year earnings per share growth rate, and Sandler O'Neill's 2004 Bank and Thrift Sm-All Stars named First Mutual among the top 30 performing small banks in the country, among the 592 with market capitalizations below $2 billion. In May 2004, First Mutual Bank was named Eastside Business of the Year in the 2004 Eastside Business Awards, sponsored by the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce.
    First Mutual Bancshares, Inc. is the holding company for its wholly owned subsidiary, First Mutual Bank, an independent, community-based bank that operates 12 full-service banking centers in the Puget Sound area, and loan production offices in Tacoma and Bellingham, Washington, and a sales finance office in Jacksonville, Florida.

    www.firstmutual.com

--30--MRO/se*

CONTACT: First Mutual Bancshares, Inc. John Valaas or Roger Mandery, 425-455-7300

KEYWORD: WASHINGTON INDUSTRY KEYWORD: BANKING DIVIDEND SOURCE: First Mutual Bancshares, Inc.

Copyright Business Wire 2005