First Place Financial 8-K Financial statements and exhibits

Exhibit 99.1

For Release: April 20, 2004	For Further Information:
	Steven R. Lewis, President & CEO David L. Mead, Chief Financial Officer (330) 373-1221 Ext. 2279

First Place Financial Corp. Reports Earnings

for Third Quarter and Nine Months of Fiscal 2004

Fourth Quarter Dividend of $0.14 Declared

Warren, Ohio, April 20, 2004 - First Place Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:FPFC) reported net income for the third fiscal 2004 quarter ended March 31, 2004 of $3.79 million compared to $4.41 million reported for the third quarter of fiscal 2003. Net income for the first nine months of fiscal 2004 was $12.63 million compared to $11.73 million reported for the same period last year, an increase of 7.6%. Diluted earnings per share for the third quarter were $0.30 compared to $0.34 reported last year. On a year-to-date basis, the Company achieved a 10.0% increase in diluted earnings per share to $0.99 from $0.90 for the prior period. Year-to-date per share results were additionally affected by share repurchase activity, which decreased average diluted shares outstanding by 1.9%. Earnings for the third quarter of fiscal 2004 were impacted by lower mortgage banking income and lower revenues from the Company’s non-bank affiliates.

Annualized returns on average equity (ROE) and average assets (ROA) for the third quarter of fiscal 2004 were 8.08% and 0.93%, respectively, compared to 9.94% and 1.20% for the third quarter of fiscal 2003. Annualized ROE and ROA for the first nine months of fiscal 2004 were 9.07% and 1.02%, respectively, compared to 8.65% and 1.01% for the prior-year nine-month period.

Commenting on these results, Steven R. Lewis, President and CEO said, “We feel we have positioned First Place to perform well under a variety of economic scenarios. This past quarter, however, we faced a soft economy and volatile interest rates which affected real estate activities. While revenue for the third quarter was impacted by these ongoing challenges, we also experienced several important trends that will have a long-term favorable impact on our earnings. Commercial and consumer loan growth was strong as we continue to achieve success at diversifying our balance sheet. We maintained residential mortgage originations at normalized levels due to the geographic expansion of our mortgage loan production offices for in-house originations and the added wholesale production of our correspondent network. Expense growth was controlled in the midst of our numerous expansion initiatives and matched our growth in assets. Asset quality remains solid and continues to improve. These positive trends can all be attributed to strategic changes we have made at First Place over the last several years.”

“We anticipate our pending acquisition of Franklin Bancorp, Inc., a $519 million bank holding company located in Southfield, Michigan, to be completed during the quarter ended June 30, 2004. This acquisition will move us significantly ahead as we evolve into a diversified financial services organization, providing us with a higher mix of loans and deposits from business relationships. Additionally, the Financial Center we opened in Solon, Ohio in the previous quarter is off to a strong start. Our targeted clientele — executives, entrepreneurs and professionals — have been receptive to the Center’s integrated approach to providing a full range of commercial and private financial services.”

Total revenue (net interest income plus noninterest income) for the quarter ended March 31, 2004 was $15.8 million compared to $16.8 million reported in the prior-year third quarter. Net interest income increased 4.2% to $11.4 million as a result of a 9.5% increase in average earning assets, partially offset by a 15 basis point decline in the net interest margin to 3.14%. Mr. Lewis noted, “We are pleased with our initiatives to grow and diversify our earning assets; our efforts to increase business and consumer relationships should favorably impact revenue over the longer term. Near-term, however, the $30.0 million of trust preferred securities we issued in December of 2003 to partially fund our acquisition of Franklin Bancorp lowered our net interest margin by ten basis points and lowered earnings per share by one cent in the quarter.”

Noninterest income for the third quarter ended March 31, 2004 was $4.4 million compared to $5.8 million in the prior-year third quarter. Lower net gains on the sale of mortgage loans were realized in the quarter as margins narrowed from year-earlier levels on a smaller volume of in-house production. Originations from the recently developed wholesale correspondent program have supplemented in-house production, however, these loans provide smaller returns than in-house production. This past quarter, in-house production from mortgage loan production offices accounted for 52% of originations; the local markets within the Company’s branch net work accounted for 22%; and the wholesale correspondent network accounted for 26%. Loan servicing income was a net loss of $0.7 million, an improvement over the net loss of $1.3 million for the prior-year third quarter primarily from a sharp reduction in accelerated amortization of mortgage servicing rights (MSRs) due to the slowdown in prepayments. Non-cash impairment charges to MSRs were recognized in both current and prior-year quarters of $0.6 million and $0.7 million, respectively. Revenues from the Company’s non-bank affiliates were $0.6 million lower in the current quarter compared to the prior-year period on lower business volumes in several of the business lines.

Noninterest expense for the third quarter ended March 31, 2004 was $10.2 million, an increase of $0.8 million, or 9.0%, compared to the prior-year third quarter. The majority of the increase was salary and benefit expense, up 11.8% from the prior-year third quarter, which was attributable to the expansion initiatives of adding three new loan production offices, the Solon Financial Center and the wholesale mortgage and the private banking programs. The overall growth in expenses closely mirrored the Company’s 9.2% asset growth. Noninterest expense as a percentage of average assets remained fairly stable over the last five quarters and was at a five-quarter low of 2.51% for the third quarter of 2004. On a year-to-date basis, the efficiency ratio was 59.29% compared to 57.24% in the prior year.

Asset quality improved during the quarter. Nonperforming assets, including nonperforming loans and real estate owned, totaled $14.5 million at March 31, 2004, down from $15.5 million at December 31, 2003 and $16.0 million at March 31, 2003. Nonperforming assets declined to 0.88% of total assets at March 31, 2004, from 1.06% twelve months ago. The loan loss provision was $200,000 in the third quarter of fiscal 2004. The provision for the quarter, combined with a reduction in mortgage and construction loans during the quarter, maintained the loan loss reserve at a historically consistent level. The loan loss allowance ratio was 1.04% at March 31, 2004 compared to 1.05% at March 31, 2003. Net charge-offs in the third quarter of fiscal 2004 were $480,000, or 0.18% of average loans on an annualized basis, down from $602,000, or 0.27% of loans, in the prior-year third quarter.

Assets totaled $1.7 billion at March 31, 2004, an increase of 9.2%, or $138.9 million, from March 31, 2003. Portfolio loans totaled $1.0 billion at March 31, 2004, an 11.8% increase from $909.1 million at March 31, 2003. As evidence of the Company’s diversification initiatives over the past twelve months, commercial loans grew $57.1 million, or 53.0%, to $164.8 million; consumer loans grew $32.7 million, or 20.5%, to $192.3 million while mortgage loans held in the portfolio increased by only $17.6 million, or 2.7%, to $659.5 million. Deposits increased $41.9 million to $1.1 billion at March 31, 2004, up 3.9% from March 31, 2003. Lower-cost core deposits, representing 50.1% of the deposit portfolio at quarter-end, continued to replace certificates-of-deposit in the deposit mix.

Shareholders’ equity at March 31, 2004 was $190.4 million compared to $180.0 million at March 31, 2003. As part of its capital management strategy, the Company repurchased 171,600 shares during the last twelve months, and recently announced another program to repurchase up to 750,000 shares over the next twelve months. The Company continues to maintain a strong capital position. At quarter end, shareholders’ equity was 11.51% of period-end assets.

At its regular meeting held April 20, 2004, the Board of Directors declared a per share cash dividend of $0.14 for the fourth fiscal quarter. This dividend represents a 12% increase over the dividend paid in the same quarter of the prior year. The dividend is payable on May 13, 2004 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on April 29, 2004.

The Company is also announcing that Jeffrey L. Francis retired from the Board of Directors in this past quarter. Mr. Francis had previously retired as the President and Chief Operating Officer of First Place Bank in 2003. He had been a director of the Company since 2000.

About First Place Financial Corp.

First Place Financial Corp. is a $1.7 billion financial services holding company headquartered in Warren, Ohio. First Place Financial Corp. includes First Place Bank, with 22 retail locations, including the new First Place Financial Center in Solon, Ohio, and 13 loan production offices throughout the state of Ohio. In addition to First Place Bank, the other operating subsidiaries include First Place Insurance Agency, Ltd.; Coldwell Banker First Place Real Estate, Ltd.; TitleWorks Agency, LLC and APB Financial Group, Ltd., an employee benefit consulting firm and specialists in wealth management services for businesses and consumers. Additional information about First Place Financial Corp. may be found on the Company’s web site:www.firstplacebank.net.

Forward-Looking Statement

When used in this press release, or future press releases or other public or shareholder communications, in filings by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or in oral statements made with the approval of an authorized executive officer, the words or phrases “will likely result,” “are expected to,” “will continue,” “is anticipated,” “estimate,” “project” or similar expressions are intended to identify “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the Company’s actual results to be materially different from those indicated. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties including changes in economic conditions in the market areas the Company conducts business, which could

materially impact credit quality trends, changes in policies by regulatory agencies, fluctuations in interest rates, demand for loans in the market areas the Company conducts business, and competition, that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical earnings and those presently anticipated or projected. The Company wishes to caution readers not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly release the result of any revisions that may be made to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events.

FIRST PLACE FINANCIAL CORP.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME

(Unaudited)	Three months ended March 31,						Percent Change		Nine months ended March 31,						Percent Change
(Dollars in thousands, except per share data)	2004			2003					2004			2003
Interest income	$	20,769		$	20,916		(0.7	)%	$	63,180		$	66,735		(5.3	)%
Interest expense		9,352			9,963		(6.1	)		27,839			33,928		(17.9	)
Net interest income		11,417			10,953		4.2			35,341			32,807		7.7
Provision for loan losses		200			768		(74.0	)		2,373			1,976		20.1
Net interest income after provision for loan losses		11,217			10,185		10.1			32,968			30,831		6.9
Noninterest income
Service charges		1,391			1,341		3.7			4,086			3,770		8.4
Security gains, net		188			355		(47.0	)		480			784		(38.8	)
Gain on sale of loans, net		1,784			3,222		(44.6	)		6,968			8,425		(17.3	)
Loan servicing income (loss)		(692	)		(1,281	)	(46.0	)		(186	)		(3,240	)	(94.3	)
Other – bank income		232			26		792.3			721			53		N/M
Other – non-bank income		1,512			2,136		(29.2	)		4,733			3,669		29.0
Total noninterest income		4,415			5,799		(23.9	)		16,802			13,461		24.8
Noninterest expense
Salaries and benefits		5,369			4,804		11.8			16,311			13,245		23.1
Occupancy and equipment		1,613			1,463		10.3			4,662			4,272		9.1
Professional fees		464			344		34.9			1,223			1,094		11.8
Loan expenses		277			291		(4.8	)		960			975		(1.5	)
Franchise taxes		434			441		(1.6	)		1,346			1,240		8.5
Intangible amortization		255			246		3.7			755			739		2.2
Other		1,814			1,794		1.1			6,101			5,352		14.0
Total noninterest expense		10,226			9,383		9.0			31,358			26,917		16.5
Income before income tax and minority interest		5,406			6,601		(18.1	)		18,412			17,375		6.0
Provision for income tax		1,609			2,151		(25.2	)		5,715			5,606		1.9
Minority interest in income of consolidated subsidiary		12			39		(69.2	)		71			39		82.1
Net income	$	3,785		$	4,411		(14.2	)%	$	12,626		$	11,730		7.6	%
SHARE DATA:
Basic earnings per share	$	0.30		$	0.35		(11.4	)%	$	1.01		$	0.92		9.8	%
Diluted earnings per share	$	0.30		$	0.34		(11.8	)%	$	0.99		$	0.90		10.0	%
Cash dividends per share	$	0.14		$	0.125		12.0	%	$	0.42		$	0.375		12.0	%
Average shares outstanding - basic		12,561,051			12,562,950		0.0	%		12,552,351			12,775,522		(1.7	)%
Average shares outstanding - diluted		12,811,298			12,804,782		0.1	%		12,797,830			13,043,578		(1.9	)%

N/M – Not Meaningful

FIRST PLACE FINANCIAL CORP.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION

(Dollars in thousands)	March 31, 2004 (Unaudited)		June 30, 2003		March 31, 2003 (Unaudited)
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	$	31,198	$	32,206	$	28,630
Interest bearing deposits in other banks		500		1,650		2,161
Securities available for sale		328,682		346,429		375,910
Loans held for sale		69,421		65,695		39,725
Loans
Mortgage and construction		659,476		615,478		641,891
Commercial		164,766		124,005		107,680
Consumer		192,255		161,962		159,555
Total loans		1,016,497		901,445		909,126
Less allowance for loan losses		10,522		9,603		9,539
Loans, net		1,005,975		891,842		899,587
Federal Home Loan Bank stock		23,207		22,523		22,300
Premises and equipment, net		19,961		19,766		20,012
Goodwill		18,930		18,407		18,455
Core deposit and other intangibles		4,144		4,902		5,093
Other assets		152,418		155,193		103,650
Total Assets	$	1,654,436	$	1,558,613	$	1,515,523
LIABILITIES
Deposits
Non-interest bearing checking	$	44,012	$	39,506	$	34,847
Interest bearing checking		76,023		73,125		74,702
Savings		135,562		135,819		134,755
Money market		304,360		298,788		287,198
Certificates of deposit		557,143		561,212		543,664
Total deposits		1,117,100		1,108,450		1,075,166
Securities sold under agreements to repurchase		33,096		9,547		9,542
Federal Home Loan Bank advances		261,515		235,952		231,305
Junior subordinated deferrable interest debentures held by affiliated trusts that issued guaranteed capital securities		30,929		0		0
Other liabilities		21,397		21,983		19,532
Total Liabilities		1,464,037		1,375,932		1,335,545
SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY		190,399		182,681		179,978
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity	$	1,654,436	$	1,558,613	$	1,515,523

FIRST PLACE FINANCIAL CORP.

CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

(Unaudited)

	Most Recent Five Quarters
(Dollars in thousands except per share data)	FY 2004 3rd Qtr			FY 2004 2nd Qtr		FY 2004 1st Qtr		FY 2003 4th Qtr		FY 2003 3rd Qtr		Nine months ended March 31,
												2004		2003
EARNINGS
Tax equivalent net interest income	$	11,659		12,176		12,250		11,522		11,212		36,084		33,563
Net interest income	$	11,417		11,924		12,000		11,291		10,953		35,341		32,807
Provision for loan losses	$	200		687		1,486		888		768		2,373		1,976
Noninterest income	$	4,415		5,965		6,422		6,746		5,799		16,802		13,461
Noninterest expense	$	10,226		10,921		10,211		9,806		9,383		31,358		26,917
Net income	$	3,785		4,332		4,509		4,962		4,411		12,626		11,730
Basic earnings per share	$	0.30		0.34		0.36		0.40		0.35		1.01		0.92
Diluted earnings per share	$	0.30		0.34		0.35		0.39		0.34		0.99		0.90
PERFORMANCE RATIOS
Return on average assets		0.93	%	1.02	%	1.12	%	1.31	%	1.20	%	1.02	%	1.01	%
Return on average equity		8.08	%	9.30	%	9.85	%	10.99	%	9.94	%	9.07	%	8.65	%
Net interest margin (fully tax equivalent)		3.14	%	3.21	%	3.37	%	3.34	%	3.29	%	3.24	%	3.17	%
Efficiency ratio		63.61	%	60.20	%	54.69	%	53.68	%	55.16	%	59.29	%	57.24	%
CAPITAL
Period-end equity to assets		11.51	%	11.22	%	10.98	%	11.72	%	11.88	%	11.51	%	11.88	%
Book value per share	$	14.38		14.10		13.84		13.73		13.52		14.38		13.52
Period-end market value per share	$	18.14		19.53		17.75		17.50		15.20		18.14		15.20
Cash dividend per share	$	0.14		0.14		0.14		0.125		0.125		0.42		0.375
Common stock / Dividend payout ratio		46.67	%	41.18	%	40.00	%	32.05	%	36.76	%	42.42	%	41.67	%
Period-end common shares outstanding (000)		13,238		13,289		13,286		13,309		13,313		13,238		13,313
Average basic shares outstanding (000)		12,561		12,558		12,538		12,525		12,563		12,552		12,776
Average diluted shares outstanding (000)		12,811		12,813		12,768		12,737		12,805		12,798		13,044
ASSET QUALITY
Net charge-offs	$	480		410		564		824		602		1,454		1,893
Net charge-offs / Average loans (annualized)		0.18	%	0.15	%	0.22	%	0.36	%	0.27	%	0.19	%	0.27	%
Nonperforming loans	$	12,625		14,156		14,541		12,779		14,367		12,625		14,368
Nonperforming assets (NPAs)	$	14,480		15,538		15,722		13,774		16,007		14,480		16,007
NPAs / Total assets		0.88	%	0.93	%	0.94	%	0.88	%	1.06	%	0.88	%	1.06	%
Allowance for loan losses	$	10,522		10,802		10,526		9,603		9,539		10,522		9,539
Allowance for loan losses / Period-end loans		1.04	%	1.05	%	1.04	%	1.07	%	1.05	%	1.04	%	1.05	%
Allowance for loan losses / NPA’s		72.67	%	69.52	%	66.95	%	69.72	%	59.59	%	72.67	%	59.59	%
MORTGAGE BANKING
Mortgage originations	$	257,000		239,500		403,300		344,500		231,700		899,800		693,700
Net gains on sale of loans	$	1,784		1,192		3,992		4,954		3,222		6,968		8,425
Mortgage servicing portfolio	$	1,275,916		1,118,148		961,335		920,178		878,503		1,275,916		878,503
Mortgage servicing rights	$	12,300		11,173		7,909		7,051		7,198		12,300		7,198
Mortgage servicing rights valuation (loss) recovery	$	(555	)	1,570		400		(796	)	(669	)	1,415		(1,636	)
Mortgage servicing rights / Mortgage servicing portfolio		0.96	%	1.00	%	0.82	%	0.77	%	0.82	%	0.96	%	0.82	%

FIRST PLACE FINANCIAL CORP.

CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

(Unaudited)

	Most Recent Five Quarters
(Dollars in thousands)	FY 2004 3rd Qtr		FY 2004 2nd Qtr	FY 2004 1st Qtr	FY 2003 4th Qtr	FY 2003 3rd Qtr	Nine months ended March 31,
							2004	2003
END OF PERIOD BALANCES
Loans	$	1,016,497	1,032,217	1,011,619	901,445	909,126	1,016,497	909,126
Assets	$	1,654,436	1,670,695	1,675,267	1,558,613	1,515,523	1,654,436	1,515,523
Deposits	$	1,117,100	1,105,238	1,101,849	1,108,450	1,075,166	1,117,100	1,075,166
Shareholders’ equity	$	190,399	187,395	183,909	182,681	179,978	190,399	179,978
AVERAGE BALANCES
Loans and loans held for sale	$	1,126,937	1,146,872	1,090,575	996,625	963,191	1,121,441	960,745
Earning assets	$	1,483,326	1,517,354	1,453,362	1,382,701	1,354,693	1,484,686	1,409,395
Assets	$	1,635,990	1,687,266	1,608,546	1,524,713	1,493,542	1,643,963	1,545,124
Deposits	$	1,109,222	1,102,582	1,107,919	1,097,659	1,087,670	1,106,565	1,092,521
Shareholders’ equity	$	188,466	185,364	182,077	181,122	180,001	185,291	180,664