CCF Holding Company Announces Cash Dividend.

Business Editors

JONESBORO, Ga.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 19, 2002

David B. Turner, President and Chief Executive Officer of CCF Holding Company ("the Corporation"), Jonesboro, Georgia, the holding company of Heritage Bank (the "Bank"), announced that the Corporation's Board of Directors has declared a $.05 per share dividend.

The record date will be January 2, 2003, and the expected payment date is January 17, 2003.

The primary source of income for the company is its wholly owned subsidiary Heritage Bank which had net income of $1,581,749 for the nine-months ended September 30, 2002, compared to net income of $1,184,554 for the nine-months ended September 30, 2001. This represents a 34% increase in net income for Heritage Bank. Included in the bank's net income figures was an increase of $376,298 in the loan loss reserve allocation from $542,452 during the nine-month period ended September 30, 2001 to $918,750 in the nine-month period ended September 30, 2002.

CCF Holding Company is the parent company of Heritage Bank, a state chartered commercial bank serving in the southern market of greater Atlanta, Georgia. The bank has five full service offices. The Company's stock is traded on the Nasdaq small caps market under the symbol "CCFH." The information contained in this press release should be reviewed in conjunction with the Company's 10-QSB filing when available on the EDGAR system.