1:30 p.m. CT Hurricane Rita Update, Thursday, Sept. 29: Hibernia Announces Branch Openings Following Hurricane Rita; ATMs, Online Banking Ready to Assist Customers

Business Wire, Sept 29, 2005

NEW ORLEANS -- Hibernia Bank (NYSE:HIB) today announced the following news regarding its offices in Louisiana and Texas impacted by hurricanes Rita and Katrina:

In Louisiana:

--Offices in southwest Louisiana continue to re-open as local conditions permit, including the Welsh, Kinder, Oakdale, Oberlin and Jennings offices, which are open.

--Offices in Lafayette and Abbeville are open, with the exception of the Abbeville drive-up.

--In the New Orleans area, the St. Charles Avenue and General DeGaulle offices in Orleans Parish reopened today. Other branches in the region that had re-opened following Hurricane Katrina are still open.

In Texas:

--Offices in the Beaumont, Orange and surrounding markets remain closed.

--All other locations in Texas are now open.

In both states:

--Employees who are able to work, even if they are not physically at their normal work locations because of evacuations, are needed in both branch and non-branch offices. Those employees should contact their managers for work site assignments.

Customers in all of these markets have the option of using Hibernia ATMs and the bank's Internet banking service at www.hibernia.com.

Hibernia employees in areas affected by Hurricane Rita should call the bank's Employee Emergency Information Line frequently for updates on any impact on Hibernia's offices and operations. Customers may call 1-877-706-4233 for a recorded update on storm impact or 1-800-262-5689 to reach Hibernia's customer service agents.

Hibernia is on Forbes magazine's list of the world's 2,000 largest companies and Fortune magazine's list of America's top 1,000 companies according to annual revenue. Hibernia has $22.1 billion in assets and 321 locations in 34 Louisiana parishes and 36 Texas counties. Hibernia Corporation's common stock (HIB) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.