Merchants Bancshares Annouces 0.28 dividend

Merchants Bancshares, Inc.

, the parent company of Merchants Bank, announced that its Board of Directors declared today, July 18th, 2013, a dividend of 28 cents per share, payable August 15th, 2013, to shareholders of record as of August 1st, 2013. This quarter represents our 67th consecutive quarterly dividend payment and our 31st consecutive quarter at the current payout level. Merchants plans to release earnings on or about July 22, 2013. Michael R. Tuttle, Merchants' President and Chief Executive Officer, Janet P. Spitler, Merchants' Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and Geoffrey R. Hesslink, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of Merchants will host a conference call to discuss these earnings results at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, July 23, 2013. Interested parties may participate in the conference call by dialing U.S. number 1-888-317-6016, Canada number 1-855-669-9657, or international number 1-412-317-6016. The title of the call is Merchants Bancshares, Inc. Q2 2013 Earnings. Participants are asked to call a few minutes prior to register. A replay will be available until 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time on August 1st, 2013. The U.S. replay dial-in telephone number is 1-877-344-7529. The international replay telephone number is 1-412-317-0088. The replay access code for both replay telephone numbers is 10023211. Additionally, a recording of the call will be available on our website at www.mbvt.com Established in 1849, Merchants Bank is the largest Vermont-based bank, independent and locally operated. Consumer, business, municipal and investment customers enjoy personalized relationships, sophisticated online and mobile banking options, more than 30 community bank locations statewide, plus a nationwide network of over 55,000 surcharge-free Allpoint ATMs. Merchants Bank (Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender, NASDAQ "MBVT"), and Merchants Trust Company employ approximately 300 full-time employees and 40 part-time employees statewide, and has earned several "Best Place to Work in Vermont" awards. American Banker ranks Merchants Bank #10 in America among 851 peers. www.mbvt.com.