Columbia Bancorp Reports 13% Increase in Quarterly Dividend

Columbia Bancorp Reports 13% Increase in Quarterly Dividend 


COLUMBIA, Md., Dec. 22  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Columbia Bancorp
(NASDAQ:CBMD), parent company of The Columbia Bank, announced this day an
increase in the quarterly dividend.

Recognizing the strength of the Company's financial performance through the
nine months ended September 30, 2004, the Board of Directors authorized an
increase in the Company's quarterly Common Stock cash dividend from $.15 per
share to $.17 per share, an increase of 13%.  The dividend will be paid on
January 20, 2005 to stockholders of record at the close of business on January
7, 2005.  The Company has paid quarterly dividends continuously since April
1994 and increased the dividend annually.

Columbia Bancorp, headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, is a bank holding
company and parent company of The Columbia Bank, a commercial bank. The
Columbia Bank currently operates twenty-four banking offices in the
Baltimore/Washington Corridor and provides a full range of financial services
to consumers and businesses.  Columbia Bancorp's Common Stock is traded on the
National Market tier of The Nasdaq Stock Market(SM) under the symbol "CBMD." 

DATASOURCE: Columbia Bancorp



CONTACT:  John A. Scaldara, Jr., President and COO, Columbia Bancorp,

[phone]



Web site:  http://www.columbank.com/ 



Company News On-Call:  http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/127921.html

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