Kroll Bond Rating Agency Revises Dime Community Bancshares, Inc.'s Ratings Outlook from "Stable" to "Positive"

HAUPPAUGE, N.Y., Aug. 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (the "Company" or "Dime") DCOM, the parent company of Dime Community Bank (the "Bank"), announced that Kroll Bond Rating Agency ("KBRA"), in a report dated August 12, 2021, revised Dime's ratings outlook from "Stable" to "Positive". Kroll's senior unsecured debt rating for Dime is BBB.

According to the KBRA report, the revision in the outlook to "Positive" stems, in part, from the effective integration to date of the Company's merger-of-equals transaction, which has already demonstrated numerous benefits. KBRA believes the merger-of-equals transaction has helped facilitate enhanced earnings capacity, and allowed for increased scale in attractive operating markets, in which Dime controls the leading deposit market share. KBRA also noted Dime's improved, more diverse operating profile supplements its favorable credit quality metrics over a long period of time. The ratings also recognize Dime's healthy liquidity position and best-in-class core deposit franchise among local banks.

Kevin O' Connor, Chief Executive Officer, stated, "KBRA has recognized the franchise value we have created as a result of our merger-of-equals transaction and we are pleased to see our ratings outlook revised to Positive."

ABOUT DIME COMMUNITY BANCSHARES, INC.
Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. is the holding company for Dime Community Bank, a New York State-chartered trust company with over $12.7 billion in assets and number one deposit market share among community banks on Greater Long Island⁽¹⁾.

(1) Aggregate deposit market share for Kings, Queens, Nassau & Suffolk counties for community banks less than $20 billion in assets.

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc.
Investor Relations Contact:
Avinash Reddy
Senior Executive Vice President – Chief Financial Officer
Phone: 718-782-6200; Ext. 5909
Email: avinash.reddy@dime.com