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Century Bancorp, Inc. Again Named One of the 2011 Bank & Thrift aSm-All Starsa by Sandler Oa?Neill + Partners

^{Published on 2011-09-22 13:07:29 - Market Wire}
 

MEDFORD, Mass.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--CenturyBank (NASDAQ: CNBKA), the largest family-run bank in New England, is pleased to announce its inclusion in the annual Sandler O'Neill + Partners Sm-All Stars: Class of 2011. The list names the 25 top performing publicly-traded small-cap banks and thrifts in the nation. Of the 486 banks and thrifts with a market cap of less than $2 billion, Century Bank was one of only 12 institutions to be reselected for this yeara™s elite list.

"We are pleased and grateful to be recognized as one of the finest banks in the country. We believe this is a reflection of Century Banka™s superior customer service and steadfast pursuit of great performance coupled with an unwavering commitment to our community and our shareholders."

According to Sandler O'Neill + Partners, an investment banking firm specializing in financial services companies, banks selected for the 2011 Sm-All Stars list have outstanding performance metrics in growth, profitability, credit quality and capital strength. The Sandler O'Neill 2011 Sm-All Stars publication states: aThe objective of the Sm-All Stars remains unchanged: to identify the top performing small-cap banks and thrifts in the nation. By identifying this group, we hope to provide investors with a narrow list from which to uncover the next crop of leading mid-cap banks and thrifts and, most important, expose them before they are discovered by the rest of the world.a

Barry R. Sloane, President and Chief Executive Officer of Century Bank, commented on this repeat distinction, aWe are pleased and grateful to be recognized as one of the finest banks in the country. We believe this is a reflection of Century Banka™s superior customer service and steadfast pursuit of great performance coupled with an unwavering commitment to our community and our shareholders.a

The Sandler Oa™Neill + Partners survey analyzed growth, profitability, credit quality, and capital strength. Companies were evaluated based on absolute performance in eight financial variables:
(1) EPS, (2) loans, (3) deposits, (4) return on average equity, (5) nonperforming assets to loans plus OREO ratio, (6) net charge-off ratio, (7) reserve to nonperforming assets ratio and (8) Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio. To earn aSm-All Stara status, the banks and thrifts needed to be at or above the peer median for the first seven metrics surveyed, plus be considered aWell Capitalizeda per the Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio.

About Century Bancorp, Inc.

Century Bank, a subsidiary of Century Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: CNBKA), is a state chartered full service commercial bank, operating 24 full-service branches in the Greater Boston area. Century offers a full range of business, personal and institutional services. Century Bank is a member of the FDIC and is an Equal Housing Lender.

Corporate Headquarters is located at 400 Mystic Avenue, Medford, MA 02155. Branches are located in Allston, Beverly, Boston, Braintree, Brookline, Burlington, Cambridge, Everett, Lynn, Malden, Medford, Newton, Peabody, Quincy, Salem, Somerville and Winchester. For more information, please visit [ www.centurybank.com ].