Allegiant Bancorp, Inc. Announces Offering of Common Stock.

Business Editors

ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 30, 2003

Allegiant Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALLE), announced today that it has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission with respect to the proposed offering by the company of 1,500,000 shares of its common stock, plus up to an additional 225,000 shares to cover over-allotments, if any. The offering will be lead managed by Legg Mason Wood Walker, Incorporated, and co-managed by RBC Capital Markets, Stifel Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated and Howe Barnes Investments, Inc.

A registration statement on Form S-3 relating to these securities has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, but is not yet effective. These securities may not be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior to the time that the registration statement becomes effective. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy. There shall not be any sale of these securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities law of any such state. A copy of the preliminary prospectus relating to the offering, when available, may be obtained from Legg Mason Wood Walker, Incorporated, 100 Light Street, 26th Floor, Baltimore, Maryland 21202.

Allegiant Bancorp, Inc. is the largest bank holding company exclusively serving the St. Louis, Missouri metropolitan area and the parent company of Allegiant Bank and Bank of Ste. Genevieve. Allegiant has 39 full-service banking locations and is the largest banking institution exclusively serving the St. Louis, Missouri metropolitan area. Allegiant focuses on providing banking services to small and middle-market businesses and individuals by offering a full range of banking services, including mortgage banking, private banking, on-line banking, brokerage services, insurance products, trust and asset management services and cash management products, in addition to traditional retail and commercial loan and deposit products.

Certain statements in this release relating to present or future trends or factors affecting the banking industry, and specifically, the operations, markets and products of Allegiant Bancorp, Inc., may be deemed to be forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Allegiant's actual strategies and results in future periods may differ materially from those currently expected due to various risks and uncertainties. Additional discussion of factors affecting Allegiant's business and prospects is contained in Allegiant's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Allegiant undertakes no obligation to report revisions to these forward-looking statements or reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release.