Valley National Bancorp Board of Directors Declares a 5 Percent Stock Dividend

WAYNE, N.J., April 7, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Valley National Bancorp ("Valley") today reported that the Board of Directors approved a 5 percent stock dividend payable May 23, 2008, to shareholders of record on May 9, 2008.

Gerald H. Lipkin, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Valley National Bancorp said, "In conjunction with the stock dividend, Valley's Board has set the annual cash dividend at $0.80 per share going forward."

Mr. Lipkin noted that we have declared a stock dividend or stock split for 17 straight years, since 1992. The next regular quarterly cash dividend is due to be paid on July 1, 2008.

Valley National Bancorp is a regional bank holding company with over $12 billion in assets, headquartered in Wayne, New Jersey. Its principal subsidiary, Valley National Bank, currently operates 176 branches in 115 communities serving 14 counties throughout northern and central New Jersey and New York City.