Hibernia Announces Branch Closings in Advance of Hurricane Rita; ATMs, Online Banking Ready to Assist Customers

Hibernia Bank (NYSE: HIB) today announced the following
news regarding its operations in South Texas and Southwest Louisiana
in advance of Hurricane Rita:

   In South Texas:

   --  The following branches will be closed Thursday, Sept. 22, and
        will reopen Monday, Sept. 26: Port Arthur; Bridge City; Bay
        City; Port Lavaca; Victoria; Wharton; and the Leopard and
        Weber Road branches in Corpus Christi.

   --  The Baybrook branch in Webster and League City branch in
        Dickinson will be closed Thursday, Sept. 22. Any closings of
        these two branches beyond this date would be announced at a
        later time.

   --  Branches in the Rio Grande Valley will continue to monitor the
        hurricane's movement and make decisions about closings based
        on developments.

   In Southwest Louisiana:

   --  The Cameron branch is closed today. Decisions about openings
        and closings beyond today in that city and in other Southwest
        Louisiana markets will be made on a day-to-day basis
        considering local conditions.

   Customers in these markets have the option of using Hibernia ATMs
and the bank's Internet banking service at www.hibernia.com.
   All other Hibernia branch and non-branch locations in South Texas
and Southwest Louisiana will be open for business as usual Thursday.
Employees in mission-critical functions should be in touch with their
managers for instructions. Branch and non-branch employees who have
temporarily relocated to Houston from markets impacted by Hurricane
Katrina should follow the lead of Hibernia's local management in
Houston regarding any openings and closings, and they should heed the
instructions of local authorities.
   Hibernia employees in areas that could be 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 36 Texas counties and 34 Louisiana parishes. Hibernia
Corporation's common stock (HIB) is listed on the New York Stock
Exchange.