CCF Holding Company Announces Quarterly Earnings For Quarter Ended September 30, 2000.

Business Editors

JONESBORO, Ga.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 10, 2000

CCF Holding Company (NASDAQ:CCFH), the holding company of Heritage Bank, announces earnings for the quarter ending September 30, 2000.

Net after tax income for the quarter was $308,371 or $0.31 per share, based on outstanding shares of 985,352. This compares to net after tax income for the quarter ended September 30, 1999 of $257,258 or $0.27 per share, based on outstanding shares of 988,650. Net after tax income for the nine months ended September 30, 2000 was $894,264 or $0.91 per share, based on outstanding shares of 985,352. This compares to net income for the nine months ended September 30, 1999 of $718,991 or $0.77 per share. Extraordinary income during the nine months ending September 30, 1999 included $178,000 of pre-tax gains on the sale of loans, fixed assets and equity securities.

The primary source of income for the company is its wholly owned subsidiary Heritage Bank, which had net income of $368,749 for the quarter ending September 30, 2000 compared to $314,604 for the quarter ending September 30, 1999. Heritage Bank's net income for the nine month period ended September 30, 2000 of $1,077,642 was an increase of 32% over the same month period in 1999 of $813,441. The Bank continued to show improvement in net interest income with an increase of $323,000 for the quarter ending September 30, 2000 and $1,200,000 for the current nine months over the same period last year. This increase is attributed to an increased net interest margin, due mainly to an increase in the loan portfolio. The increase in net interest income was offset primarily by increases in non-interest expenses of $300,000 for the quarter ending September 30, 2000 and $1,000,000 for the nine month period ending September 30, 2000. This increase is associated primarily with personnel related costs in the lending area as new producers were brought on board to continue the growth in the loan portfolio. Included in the non interest expense were provisions to the loan loss reserve of $175,000 during the quarter ending September 30, 2000 and $450,000 for the nine months ending September 30, 2000. During the quarter ended September 30, 1999 the provision was $75,000 and $295,700 during the nine months ending September 30, 1999. The bank continued to experience strong asset growth and ended the third quarter of 2000 with no borrowings.

Total assets for the holding company reached $223,685,006 for the period ended September 30, 2000, compared to total assets of $187,392,827 for the period ended September 30, 1999.

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