Exhibit 99
Cascade Financial Corporation The Cereghino Group
Contacts: Carol K. Nelson, CEO Corporate Investor Relations
Lars Johnson, CFO www.stockvalues.com
425.339.5500 206.762.0993
www.cascadebank.com
NEWS RELEASE
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CASCADE FINANCIAL DECLARES QUARTERLY CASH DIVIDEND AND SETS CONFERENCE CALL;
MANAGEMENT COMMENTS ON FOURTH QUARTER 2004
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Everett, WA - December 15, 2004 - Cascade Financial Corporation (Nasdaq: CASB),
parent company of Cascade Bank, today announced that its Board of Directors has
declared its quarterly cash dividend of $0.08 per share. Cascade's tenth
consecutive quarterly cash dividend will be paid on January 27, to shareholders
of record January 13, 2005.
"Business remains strong, with construction, commercial real estate and
business banking loan production exceeding our expectations," stated Carol K.
Nelson, President and Chief Executive Officer. "The integration of Issaquah
Bank is proceeding as planned, and remains on target to be accretive to
earnings within the first 12-months. I believe that we can meet our goal of
increasing net income by at least 10% for 2004 and 2005, although earnings per
share growth will likely be less than that in the fourth quarter 2004. We
mitigated our interest rate risk by initiating two interest rate swaps in the
second half of the year, and have decreased our level of investment securities
in anticipation of continued rate increases, which combined have impacted net
income. In addition, expenses associated with Sarbanes-Oxley compliance have
ramped up, while investment income has declined due to the Federal Home Loan
Bank of Seattle's dividend reduction."
Cascade expects to release earnings for the fourth quarter and 2004 after the
close of market on Tuesday, January 25, 2005. The following day, on Wednesday,
January 26, Carol K. Nelson, President and CEO, and Lars Johnson, CFO, will
discuss the bank's operating results in a conference call at 10:00 am PST
(1:00 pm EST). Interested investors may listen to the call live or via replay
at www.cascadebank.com. Investment professionals are invited to dial (303)
262-2140 to access the live call. A replay of the call will be available for
three weeks at (303) 590-3000, using passcode 11018161#.
Investors wishing to reinvest the upcoming dividend must complete the
enrollment through the company's transfer agent, Mellon Investor Services.
For complete details on this program, please visit the investor relations
portion of the company's website at http://www.cascadebank.com/shareholderinfo
or at www.melloninvestor.com. Interested parties may also contact Mellon
Investor Services toll-free at 1-800-839-2983.
Established in 1916, Cascade Bank, the only operating subsidiary of Cascade
Financial Corporation, is a state chartered commercial bank headquartered in
Snohomish County, Washington. Cascade Bank operates 16 full service offices,
located in Everett, Lynnwood, Marysville, Mukilteo, Smokey Point, Issaquah,
Clearview, Woodinville, Lake Stevens, Bellevue and Snohomish. Issaquah Bank,
a division of Cascade Bank, operates offices in Issaquah and North Bend.
In 2003, Washington CEO magazine ranked Cascade Bank the #1 medium sized
"Best Company to Work For" in Washington State. In July 2004, US Banker
magazine ranked Cascade #39 out of the Top 200 Publicly Traded Community
Banks with less than $1 billion in assets, based on three-year average return
on equity. In October, the same publication named President and CEO Carol
Nelson one of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking.
Forward-Looking Statements
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This release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA). Forward-looking
statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those projected. Those factors include,
but are not limited to, the ability to continue to pay cash dividends,
management of Cascade Financial's expectation for future operating results,
the continued ability to successfully integrate Issaquah Bank, attracting and
retaining customers and key employees, competition with other banks and
financial institutions and other factors. For a discussion of factors that
could cause actual results to differ, please see the Company's reports on Forms
10-K and 10-Q as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Words such
as "expect," "should," "believe," and other similar expressions or future or
conditional verbs such as "will," "may," and "should," are intended to identify
such forward-looking statements. Readers should not place undue reliance on
the forward-looking statements, which reflect management's view only as of the
date hereof. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these
forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
This statement is included for the express purpose of protecting the Company
under PSLRA's safe harbor provisions.
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Note: Transmitted on Business Wire on December 15, 2004 at 1:00 pm PST.