FFFL Fidelity Bankshares

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Dec. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Fidelity Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFFL), the holding company for Fidelity Federal Bank & Trust, was ranked 96th in Bank Director magazine's top 2005 publicly traded FDIC-insured financial institutions in the United States on the basis of its financial performance. According to the FDIC, there are 8,875 FDIC-insured financial institutions in the United States. Bank Director's ranking would put Fidelity Federal in the top 100 of all U.S. FDIC-insured financial institutions. The ranking was based on each bank's performance across three categories: profitability, capital adequacy and asset quality. The calculations in Bank Director's 2005 Bank Performance Scorecard were based on publicly available data over four linked quarters -- the third and fourth quarters of 2004 and the first and second quarters of 2005. The scorecard took into account each company's return on average assets, return on average equity, Tier-1 capital ratio, leverage ratio, nonperforming asset ratio and reserve coverage. The article stated, "The ultimate accountability for the performance of any bank or thrift rests with its board of directors, and as such, the Bank Performance Scorecard strives to look beyond singular performance metrics to identify institutions that are superlative in all critical areas." Vince Elhilow, CEO of Fidelity Federal, said, "We are delighted to be recognized as a top-performing financial institution by a prestigious publication such as Bank Director. Fidelity is honored to be ranked among the top banks nationwide based on our fiscal quarter results in several key areas, but our company truly prides itself on the service we provide to our customers and our community." At Sept. 30, 2005, Fidelity Bankshares, Inc., through its subsidiary Fidelity Federal Bank & Trust, had assets of $3.94 billion and deposits of $3.32 billion and operates in Florida through 48 offices in Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties. An investment profile on Fidelity Bankshares may be found on http://www.hawkassociates.com/fffl/profile.htm . For more information, contact Chairman and CEO Vince A. Elhilow or Chief Financial Officer Richard D. Aldred at (561) 803-9900, or Frank Hawkins or Julie Marshall, Hawk Associates, Inc., at (305) 451-1888, e-mail: . Information about Fidelity Bankshares, Inc. can be found on http://www.fidelityfederal.com/ . Copies of Fidelity Bankshares press releases, SEC filings, current price quotes, stock charts and other valuable information for investors may be found on http://www.hawkassociates.com/ . Forward-Looking Statements: When used in this report, the words or phrases "will likely result," "are expected to," "will continue," "is anticipated," "estimate," "project" or similar expressions are intended to identify "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, including, among other things, changes in economic conditions in the company's market area, changes in policies by regulatory agencies, fluctuations in interest rates, demand for loans in the company's market area and competition that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical earnings and those presently anticipated or projected. The company wishes to caution readers not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The company wishes to advise readers that the factors listed above could affect the company's financial performance and could cause the company's actual results for future periods to differ materially from any opinions or statements expressed with respect to future periods in any current statements. DATASOURCE: Fidelity Bankshares, Inc. CONTACT: Vince A. Elhilow, Chairman and CEO, or Richard D. Aldred, Chief Financial Officer, both of Fidelity, +1-561-803-9900; or Frank Hawkins or Julie Marshall, both of Hawk Associates, Inc., +1-305-451-1888, or , for Fidelity Web site: http://www.fidelityfederal.com/ http://www.hawkassociates.com/ http://www.hawkassociates.com/fffl/profile.htm

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