Benjamin Franklin Bancorp Reports Results for First Quarter of 2008; Increases Quarterly Dividend

Business Wire, April 24, 2008

(1)The net interest rate spread represents the difference between the weighted-average yield on interest-earning assets and the weighted-average cost of interest-bearing liabilities for the period.

(2)The net interest margin represents net interest income as a percent of average interest-earning assets for the period.

(3)The efficiency ratio represents non-interest expense minus expenses related to the amortization of intangible assets divided by the sum of net interest income (before the loan loss provision) plus non-interest income (excluding non-recurring net gains (losses) on sale of bank assets).

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(1)Yields and rates for the three months ended March 31, 2008 and 2007 are annualized.

(2)Net interest rate spread represents the difference between the weighted-average yield on interest-earning assets and the weighted-average cost of interest-bearing liabilities.

(3)Net interest-earning assets represents total interest-earning assets less total interest-bearing liabilities.

(4)Net interest margin represents net interest income divided by average total interest-earning assets.

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release contains financial information determined by methods other than in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP"). The Company's management uses these non-GAAP measures in its analysis of the Company's performance. These measures typically adjust GAAP performance measures to exclude significant gains or losses that are expected to be non-recurring and to exclude the effects of amortization of intangible assets (in the case of the efficiency ratio). Because these items and their impact on the Company's performance are difficult to predict, management believes that presentations of financial measures excluding the impact of these items provide useful supplemental information that is essential to a proper understanding of the operating results of the Company's core businesses. These disclosures should not be viewed as a substitute for operating results determined in accordance with GAAP, nor are they necessarily comparable to non-GAAP performance measures that may be presented by other companies.

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