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         COOPERATIVE BANKSHARES, INC. ANNOUNCES SECOND QUARTER DIVIDEND

For immediate release:

      Wilmington, N.C., May 30, 2007--Cooperative Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:
"COOP"), announced that on May 29, 2007 the Board of Directors declared the
2007 second quarter dividend of $0.05 per share.  The dividend is payable on
or about July 17, 2007, to stockholders of record as of July 2, 2007.

      Cooperative  Bankshares,  Inc.  is the  parent  company  of  Cooperative
Bank.  Chartered in 1898,  Cooperative Bank provides a full range of financial
services  through 22 offices in Eastern  North  Carolina.  Cooperative  Bank's
subsidiary,  Lumina Mortgage,  Inc., is a mortgage  banking firm,  originating
and selling residential mortgage loans through two offices in North Carolina.


                           For Additional Information
                           --------------------------
                     Frederick Willetts, III, President/ CEO
                Todd L. Sammons, CPA, Senior Vice President/ CFO
                   Linda B. Garland, Vice President/ Secretary
                                  910-343-0181