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                          Coastal Bancorp, Inc.
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[Logo of Hibernia]       NEWS RELEASE        [Logo of Coastal Bancorp, Inc.]


Media Inquiries:     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE            Media Inquiries:
Steven Thorpe-VP,       December 2, 2003          Manuel J. Mehos-Chairman,
Public Relations                                       President, CEO
  504-533-2753                                           713-435-5656
sthorpe@hibernia.com                                mehos@coastalbanc.com
____________________                                _____________________

Investor Inquiries:                                   Investor Inquiries:
Marsha Gassan-CFO                                Catherine Wylie-SEVP and CFO
  504-533-5558                                            713-435-5327
mgassan@hibernia.com                                 cwylie@coastalbanc.com
____________________                                 ______________________

___________________________________________________________________________
       Hibernia, Coastal Bancorp Sign Definitive Merger Agreement

Transaction Would Significantly Strengthen Hibernia's Presence in Houston,
               Provide Entry Into Other South Texas Markets
___________________________________________________________________________
 NEW ORLEANS - Hibernia Corporation and Coastal Bancorp, Inc.,
today announced that they have signed a definitive merger
agreement. The transaction with $2.6-billion-asset Coastal Bancorp
would give Hibernia an increased presence in Houston and entry
into attractive markets stretching from Austin east to the Houston
area and south to the Rio Grande Valley, significantly
strengthening Hibernia's coverage of Texas.
 Coastal Bancorp is the parent of Coastal Banc Holding Company,
Inc., which owns Coastal Banc ssb. Coastal Banc operates in 18
Texas counties.
 Upon completion of the transaction, approximately 22% of
Hibernia's deposits would be in Texas, up from 12% currently. The
company's total assets would exceed $20 billion.
 "This represents a major step toward achieving one of the key
strategic goals, which is to have at least 25% of our deposits in
Texas," said Hibernia President and CEO Herb Boydstun.
 The addition of Coastal's 44 branches would more than double the
number of Hibernia's Texas branches from 42 to 86. Coastal has 16
branches in metropolitan Houston, one in the Austin area, two in
the Corpus Christi area, 13 in the Rio Grande Valley, and 12 in
smaller communities in the southeast quadrant of Texas. The common
stock of Coastal Bancorp (CBSA) is listed on the NASDAQ stock
exchange.
 "This merger, which is the largest in our company's history,
will enable us to expand in Houston and provide a base from which
to build in the Rio Grande Valley, Austin and other important
markets in Texas," Boydstun said. "We're excited about the
opportunities to offer Coastal customers a wider array of
financial products and services to expand relationships with them
and attract new clients throughout the region. Clients of our
Houston commercial financial center, which has made good progress
since opening in July, will benefit from the addition of
convenient Hibernia branches across the region."
 Under the terms of the agreement, Hibernia would purchase all of
the outstanding stock and options of Coastal for approximately
$230 million in cash, or $41.50 per share of Coastal stock, net of
exercise price for options. Based on current assumptions, Hibernia
management expects the transaction to be neutral to slightly
accretive in 2004 and accretive in 2005 and anticipates achieving
efficiencies of about 12.5% in the first full year of the combined
companies. Hibernia management also expects that the company's
leverage ratio will be between 7% and 8% following completion of

 Hibernia Corporation                    Coastal Bancorp, Inc.
Hibernia National Bank                     Coastal Banc Plaza
  P.O. Box 61540                        5718 Westheimer, Suite 600
New Orleans, LA 70161                         Houston, TX 77057

Page 2 - Hibernia/Coastal
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the transaction. "We believe this is an acceptable level, given
the company's good asset quality that has resulted in an improved
risk profile," said Boydstun. "We had built our capital to a level
that would enable us to act on merger opportunities such as this
one with Coastal."
 The merger is subject to approvals by regulators and Coastal
shareholders and should be completed in or near second-quarter
2004.
 Coastal has many strengths that make it a good strategic fit for
Hibernia, Boydstun pointed out, including its geographic
footprint, the quality of its facilities and, most of all, its
employees. "Coastal's employees take pride in identifying and
serving the financial needs of their customers and improving their
communities, and that fits with Hibernia's core values of caring,
serving and selling," he said.
 Formed in the late 1980s from the consolidation of several
institutions in Texas, Coastal operated as a traditional thrift
for most of its history but in recent years has focused on
becoming a full-service bank. "Under its current management,
Coastal has taken steps necessary to develop a sales culture and
has diversified its revenue stream by enhancing its retail
offerings, commercial lending and other  specialized areas," said
Boydstun. "We intend to build on the progress Coastal has made by
enhancing and expanding its offerings while providing its
employees with the kinds of tools, training and information that
can help them improve sales and service and leverage its other
strengths."
 He added that Coastal's strong management team is expected to
play a key leadership role for Hibernia in the markets Coastal
serves.
 The merger with Coastal will be in addition to Hibernia's $100
million Texas expansion plans launched last year to open
commercial financial centers and dozens of de novo branches in
high-growth suburbs of Dallas and Houston by the end of 2007. In
the past year, Hibernia has opened two commercial financial
centers - one in North Dallas and one in Houston. During December,
Hibernia will open the first of its de novo branches in each of
those markets along with an additional branch in the attractive
Tyler market in East Texas.
 To accommodate Hibernia's growing presence in Texas, the company
plans to open an operations center in Houston with Coastal
employees that will include a commercial vault as well as branch
balancing, return items, item processing, bookkeeping and possibly
other services.
  "With Hibernia's financial strength, extensive capabilities and
record as a good corporate citizen, we'll be able to do more for
our customers and the communities we serve," said Manuel J. Mehos,
chairman, president and chief executive officer of Coastal
Bancorp. "A key to Hibernia's success over the years has been its
ability to combine the personal service of the best community
banks with the products, services and capabilities of large money-
center banks."
 Coastal customers will not see any changes for a number of
months. Only after the bank is converted to Hibernia's operating
systems would checks, signs and forms change. Until then, Coastal
customers should continue using their checks, making loan payments
and conducting other transactions as usual. The name of the bank
will be changed to Hibernia National Bank following the merger.
 Hibernia financial experts serve businesses and individuals with
comprehensive products and services, including consumer,
commercial, small-business, international, mortgage and private
banking; leasing; treasury management; trust and investment
management; brokerage; investment banking; and insurance.
 Hibernia, a Forbes 500 company, was founded in 1870. It has
$17.6 billion in assets and 256 locations in 34 Louisiana parishes
and 17 Texas counties. Following the merger, Hibernia would exceed
$20 billion in assets and have 300 locations in 34 Louisiana
parishes and 35 Texas counties. Hibernia Corporation's common
stock (HIB) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

 Hibernia Corporation                    Coastal Bancorp, Inc.
Hibernia National Bank                     Coastal Banc Plaza
  P.O. Box 61540                        5718 Westheimer, Suite 600
New Orleans, LA 70161                         Houston, TX 77057

Page 3 - Hibernia/Coastal
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__________________________________________________________________
Statements in this report that are not historical facts should be
considered forward-looking statements with respect to Hibernia
and Coastal Bancorp, Inc. Forward-looking statements of this type
speak only as of the date of this report. By nature, forward-
looking statements involve inherent risk and uncertainties.
Various factors, including, but not limited to, unforeseen local,
regional, national or global events, economic conditions, asset
quality, interest rates, prepayment speeds, servicing costs, loan
demand, changes in business or consumer spending, borrowing or
savings habits, deposit growth, adequacy of the reserve for loan
losses, competition, stock price volatility, government monetary
policy, expense reductions at anticipated levels, changes in laws
and regulations, the level of success of asset/liability
management strategies as well as marketing, product development,
sales and other strategies, the effect of changes in accounting
policies and practices, as may be adopted by the regulatory
agencies as well as the Financial Accounting Standards Board and
other accounting standard setters, the costs and effects of
litigation and of unexpected or adverse outcomes in such
litigation and changes in the assumptions used in making the
forward-looking statements, could cause actual results to differ
materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking
statements. Neither Hibernia nor Coastal Bancorp, Inc.,
undertakes any obligation to update or revise forward-looking
statements to reflect subsequent circumstances, events or
information or for any other reason.
__________________________________________________________________















 Hibernia Corporation                    Coastal Bancorp, Inc.
Hibernia National Bank                     Coastal Banc Plaza
  P.O. Box 61540                        5718 Westheimer, Suite 600
New Orleans, LA 70161                         Houston, TX 77057