CCF Holding Company Announces Quarterly Earnings For the Quarter and Year Ended December 31, 2002.

Business Editors

JONESBORO, Ga.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 9, 2003

CCF Holding Company (NASDAQ: CCFH)

                                December 31, 2002    December 31, 2001
                            ----------------------  ------------------

Total Assets                         $261,992,590   $247,807,959

CCF Net Income for the
 Quarter                                 $534,484      $694,805(a)

Basic Earnings per Share for
 the Quarter                                $0.36         $0.47(c)

CCF Net Income for the Year            $1,962,690   $  1,429,295(a)(b)

Basic Earnings per Share for
 the Year                                   $1.34          $0.97(c)

(a) Earnings reflect a one-time gain of approximately $413,000 pre-
 tax, or $0.18 per share after-tax, for the settlement received from
 Westfield Insurance for the destruction by fire of the Bank's Forest
 Park Office.
(b) Earnings reflect a one-time charge of approximately $492,000 pre-
 tax, or ($0.29) per share after-tax, for  the acceleration of
 principal payments on CCF's internally leveraged ESOP plan.  Refer to
 press release dated February 2, 2001 for further information.
(c)  Adjusted to reflect the effect of a 3 for 2 stock split paid to
 shareholders of record on December 4, 2002.

CCF Holding Company, the holding company of Heritage Bank, announces earnings for the quarter and year ending December 31, 2002.

Net income for the quarter was $534,484 or $0.36 per share based on outstanding shares of 1,466,765. (All per share amounts for 2001 have been adjusted to reflect the 3 for 2 stock split paid to shareholders of record on December 4, 2002.) This compares to 2001 income for the quarter of $694,805 which included a one-time gain of approximately $413,000 pre-tax, or $0.18 per share after-tax, associated with insurance proceeds received from Westfield Insurance Company following the fire that destroyed the Forest Park office in June 2000. Earnings for the quarter excluding the gain were $426,355 or $0.29 per share. This represents a core earnings growth of slightly over 25%.

For the twelve-month period ending December 31, 2002, net income was $1,962,690 or $1.34 per share. Net income for the twelve-month period ending December 31, 2001 excluding two one-time events would have been $1,480,644 or $1.01 per share based on 1,466,765 shares outstanding. This represents a core earnings growth of just over 32%. The two one-time events were the gain associated with insurance proceeds of $0.18 per share after-tax and the acceleration of the principal payments associated with the Company's internally leveraged Employee Stock Ownership Plan of ($0.22) per share after-tax.

The Company's assets increased to approximately $262 million at December 31, 2002 from approximately $248 million for the year ended December 31, 2001, a growth rate of 6%.

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 SmallCap market under the symbol "CCFH." The information contained in this press release should be reviewed in conjunction with the Company's 10-KSB filing when available on the EDGAR system.