GCBS Greene County Bancshares (MM)

Greene County Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:GCBS) today announced that its Board of Directors has extended the Company's current stock repurchase plan for an additional year. The plan is now set to expire on December 1, 2006, or earlier if the authorized amount is reached. The Company implemented its current stock repurchase plan in November 2004 by authorizing the repurchase of up to approximately $4,462,000 of the Company's outstanding common stock. No share repurchases have been made under the current plan. The currently authorized amount represents the unexpended authorization under the Company's former $5,000,000 stock repurchase plan; under the previous plan, the Company repurchased 25,700 shares of its common stock for an aggregate purchase amount of approximately $538,000. Currently, Greene County Bancshares has approximately 9.8 million shares outstanding. Share repurchases under the Company's program may be made from time to time in the open market depending on market conditions, although unsolicited negotiated transactions may occur. Accordingly, there is no guarantee as to the exact number of shares that may be repurchased. Greeneville, Tennessee-based Greene County Bancshares, Inc., with total assets of approximately $1.6 billion, is the holding company for Greene County Bank and is the second largest bank holding company headquartered in the state of Tennessee. Greene County Bank, founded in 1890, now has 47 branches throughout East and Middle Tennessee, one branch in Bristol, Virginia, one branch in western North Carolina, and a trust services office in Lebanon, Tennessee. Greene County Bank does business in Washington County, Tennessee as Washington County Bank; in Blount County and Knox County, Tennessee as American Fidelity Bank; in Montgomery County, Tennessee as Clarksville Community Bank; in Sumner County, Tennessee as First Independent Bank; in Rutherford County, Tennessee as Rutherford Bank and Trust; in Sullivan County, Tennessee as Sullivan County Bank and First Bristol Bank; in Hamblen County, Tennessee as Hamblen County Bank; in McMinn County, Tennessee as Bank of Athens and Bank of Niota; in Hawkins County, Tennessee as Hawkins County Bank and Bank of Bulls Gap; in Lawrence County, Tennessee as Bank of Lawrence County; in Cocke County, Tennessee as Cocke County Bank; in Loudon County, Tennessee as Community Bank of Loudon County; in Monroe County, Tennessee as Community Trust Bank; in the City of Bristol, Virginia as First Bristol Bank; in Davidson County and Williamson County, Tennessee as Middle Tennessee Bank & Trust; and in Wilson County, Tennessee as President's Trust. In addition, Greene County Bank also conducts separate businesses through three wholly owned subsidiaries: Superior Financial Services, Inc., a consumer finance company; GCB Acceptance Corporation, a consumer finance company specializing in subprime automobile lending; and Fairway Title Co., a title insurance company. This news release may contain forward-looking statements regarding Greene County Bancshares, Inc., as defined in Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty and actual results could differ materially from the anticipated results or other expectations expressed in the forward-looking statements. A discussion of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements is included in the Greene County Bancshares, Inc. filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.