Brookline Bancorp Announces Second Quarter Earnings and Dividend Declaration.

BROOKLINE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 17, 1998--Brookline Bancorp, Inc. (the "Company") (NASDAQ:BRKL), the holding company for Brookline Savings Bank, announced today that it earned $5.1 million for the quarter ended June 30, 1998 (or $.18 per share) compared to $3.4 million for the quarter ended June 30, 1997. The 1998 and 1997 quarters include $768,000 (or $.03 per share) and $46,000, respectively, of securities gains, net of taxes. Net income for the six month periods ended June 30, 1998 and 1997 were $8.9 million and $7.0 million, respectively. The 1998 and 1997 periods include $773,000 and $48,000, respectively, of securities gains, net of taxes. Per share data for periods other than the three months ended June 30, 1998 are not provided since the Company converted to stock on March 24, 1998.

The Company also announced that the Board of Directors approved an initial regular quarterly cash dividend of $.05 per share of common stock to stockholders of record as of July 31, 1998 and payable as of August 14, 1998.

On March 24, 1998, the Company issued 13,674,650 shares, or 47% of its common stock, to the general public in connection with the conversion of Brookline Savings Bank from a mutual to a stock savings bank. The remaining 53% of the Company's shares outstanding are owned by its parent mutual holding company, Brookline Bancorp, MHC. Net proceeds from the sale of stock amounted to $134.8 million.

Excluding securities gains, net of taxes, net income in the second quarter of 1998 was $4.4 million, or 31.5%, higher than net income of $3.3 million in the second quarter of 1997. The increase is primarily attributable to the additional income resulting from investment of the net proceeds from the stock offering and loan growth. The six month period ended June 30, 1997 includes $908,000 of interest income collected from a borrower whose loans were on non-accrual and which related to interest earned in periods prior to 1997.

At June 30, 1998, the Company had total assets of $835.3 million compared to $817.2 million at March 31, 1998. Total stockholders' equity of $275.5 million at June 30, 1998 resulted in an equity to assets ratio of 33.0% at that date. The Company conducts its business from five offices located in Brookline, Massachusetts and a loan production office opened in Worcester, Massachusetts in June 1998.

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                        BROOKLINE BANCORP, INC.
                 Consolidated Condensed Financial Data
                        (Dollars in thousands)

                                  Three Months       Six Months
                                  Ended June 30,    Ended June 30,
Operating Results                 1998     1997     1998     1997

Interest income                 $15,219  $13,270  $29,575  $27,148(A)
Interest expense                  6,274    6,474   12,964   12,810
 Net interest income              8,945    6,796   16,611   14,338
Provision for loan losses          (100)    --       (100)    --
Gains on sales of
 securities                       1,238       70    1,246       74
Other income                        362      373      696      577
Operating expenses               (2,331)  (2,115)  (4,456)  (4,273)
 Income before income
  taxes                           8,114    5,124   13,997   10,716
Income tax expense                2,971    1,752    5,084    3,752
 Net income                     $ 5,143  $ 3,372  $ 8,913  $ 6,964(A)

Income per common share(B)      $  0.18      N/A      N/A     N/A
Weighted average common
 shares outstanding          29,004,114      N/A      N/A     N/A

Selected Operating Ratios (annualized)
Return on average equity           7.52%   11.28%    8.53%  11.83%
Return on average equity,
 excluding securities
 gains, net of taxes               6.39    11.13     7.79   11.75
Return on average assets           2.49     1.99     2.25    2.07
Net interest spread                2.69     3.11     2.91    3.11
Net interest margin                4.39     4.07     4.25    4.05
Efficiency ratio                  25.05    29.50    25.75   28.65

(A) Includes $908,000 ($529,000 after income taxes) collected from a
non-performing borrower relating to income earned in prior periods.

(B) Income per share is not presented for the periods prior to April
1, 1998 as the Company completed its initial stock offering on March
24, 1998 and such data is not meaningful.


Balance Sheet and Other Data        June 30, 1998   December 31, 1997

Total assets                           $835,329         $701,119
Loans(1)                                529,341          496,412
Investments                             302,320          198,472
Deposits                                467,465          482,304
Stockholders' equity/retained
 earnings                               275,538          132,757
Equity to assets ratio                     33.0%            18.9%
Nonperforming assets                   $  2,718         $  3,176
Nonperforming assets as a percentage
  of total assets                          0.33%            0.45%

(1) Includes money market loan participations of $34.6 million at June
30, 1998 and $24.0 million at December 31, 1997.

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CONTACT: Brookline Bancorp, Inc.

Paul R. Bechet, [phone]