Carolina First Ranked #1 In U.S. Small Business Administration Loan Production In South Carolina

Carolina First Bank, the banking subsidiary for The South Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSFG), announced it ranked #1 in U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) loan production in the state of South Carolina for the first four months of the government fiscal year, October 1, 2009 through January 31, 2010. During this period, Carolina First provided over $4.2 million in loan commitments to small businesses throughout South Carolina through the SBA’s 7(a) loan program.

“These results reflect our commitment to serving small business owners in our markets,” said Richard W. Bradshaw, Executive Vice President and Director of SBA Lending. “Over the last 6 months, we established a new SBA lending unit to serve our markets in the Carolinas and Florida, hired 19 experienced SBA professionals, and received Preferred Lender Status from the SBA. This is the right time in the economy to offer SBA products, and we want to be aggressive in helping our customers and communities recover and begin to grow again.”

Bradshaw continued, “Carolina First uses the SBA program to structure financing solutions to enhance our customers’ cash flow. These advantages include extended terms and lower down payments.”

General Information

The South Financial Group is a bank holding company focused on serving small businesses, middle market companies, and retail customers in the Carolinas and Florida. At December 31, 2009, it had approximately $11.9 billion in total assets and 177 branch offices. TSFG operates Carolina First Bank, which conducts banking operations in North Carolina and South Carolina (as Carolina First Bank) and in Florida (as Mercantile Bank). At December 31, 2009, approximately 45% of TSFG’s total customer deposits were in South Carolina, 43% were in Florida, and 12% were in North Carolina. Investor information is available at www.thesouthgroup.com.

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