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Royal Bank America Parent Co. Issues 51st Consecutive Quarterly Cash Dividend
| Source: Royal Bancshares of Pennsylvania
NARBERTH, PA--(Marketwire - January 18, 2008) - Royal Bancshares of Pennsylvania, Inc.
(NASDAQ : RBPAA ) today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a
quarterly cash dividend for the first quarter of 2008 of $0.15 per share
for holders of Class A common stock and $0.1725 cents per share for holders
of Class B common stock. The record date is January 30, 2008, and the
payment date is February 13, 2008. The quarterly dividend represents a
reduction from the prior quarter's dividend of $0.2875 per share for Class
A shares and $0.330625 per share for Class B shares.
"The Board of Directors felt it prudent, given current economic conditions
and the outlook for the banking industry in general, to reduce the dividend
to be more in line with 2008 earnings expectations. The new dividend yield,
currently in excess of 5%, places us in the top tier of our community bank
peers," stated Joseph P. Campbell, President and CEO of Royal Bancshares of
Pennsylvania, Inc.
Royal Bancshares of Pennsylvania, Inc. Chairman Robert R. Tabas added,
"Unlike some of the larger banks in the news for cutting their dividend to
preserve capital, our Board's decision was not based on this need. The
Board believes that dividends should maintain proportionality to earnings,
and as such this decision is the right one for the long-term interests of
the bank and our shareholders."
About Royal Bancshares of Pennsylvania, Inc.
Royal Bancshares of Pennsylvania, Inc., headquartered in Narberth,
Pennsylvania, operates sixteen full-service branch offices throughout
southeastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey under the name Royal Bank America
and six locations in metro-Philadelphia, Northern New Jersey and New York
under the name Royal Asian Bank. Together, Royal Bank America and Royal
Asian Bank, along with Royal's other affiliates, offer a wide variety of
products and services, including commercial real estate loans, asset based
lending, structured financing, equipment leasing, equity/mezzanine lending,
high-yielding CDs & MMAs and Internet Banking solutions at
www.royalbankamerica.com and www.royalasianbank.com.
The foregoing material is unaudited and may contain forward-looking
statements. We caution that such statements may be subject to a number of
uncertainties, and actual results could differ materially; therefore,
readers should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements.
Royal Bancshares of Pennsylvania, Inc. does not undertake, and specifically
disclaims, any obligation to publicly release the results of any revisions
that may be made to any forward-looking statements to reflect the
occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events or circumstances after
the date of such statements.