DBRS Rates RBC Centura Banks, Inc. at “A”

Dominion Bond Rating Service (“DBRS”) has today assigned ratings to RBC Centura Banks, Inc. (“RBC Centura” or the “Company”) and its operating bank subsidiary – RBC Centura Bank – as indicated above. All trends are Stable.

The ratings of RBC Centura are supported by both its low-risk community banking franchise and its ownership by the financially robust Royal Bank of Canada (“RBC”), whose ratings were confirmed on June 15, 2005, at AA (low) for Deposits and Senior Debt, R-1 (middle) for Short-Term Instruments, and Pfd-1 (low) for Cumulative Preferred Shares, with Stable trends.

RBC Centura benefits from an established community-focused commercial and consumer banking franchise principally in North Carolina, and to a lesser extent in Florida, Virginia, Georgia, and South Carolina. The franchise includes leading or top-tier deposit market shares in several municipal statistical areas in North Carolina where approximately 70% of all deposits are located. Dependence on the loan product is high as net interest income accounts for 80% to 82% of revenues. Net interest income arises from a loan portfolio sufficiently diversified among various commercial, real estate, and consumer loans, and from a high quality and relatively short-term securities portfolio. Non-interest income is generated from a narrow range of sources, including fees on deposit accounts and, to a lesser extent, by the mortgage business and operating services.

The composition of deposits is good, and less stable uninsured deposits account for a relatively low 8% of total deposits. However, the aggregate level of core deposits is relatively low at about 75% of loans, resulting in the Company’s substantial reliance on more expensive and less stable wholesale funding.

Asset quality is healthy; non-performing assets and net charge-offs are in line with those of community banks similarly constituted. The loan portfolio is sufficiently granular, and it lacks material risk concentrations.

Profitability is relatively low, and reflects RBC Centura’s substantial reliance on spread income and wholesale funding. Moreover, such products as wealth management, brokerage, and insurance – which enhance typical community banks’ earnings and profitability – are provided by the Company’s sister companies, which are not part of the earnings stream. Streamlining the operating platform, investing in better systems and processes, and expanding the branch network at a brisk pace over the past several years have also constrained profitability. Thus, the risk-adjusted return at 1.32% for H1 2005 is not representative of the Company’s core profitability potential.

Implicit in RBC Centura’s ratings and Stable trend is the expectation that RBC would not permit material weakening of the Company’s financial fundamentals, and that RBC has both the management skills and financial resources to support the Company if deemed necessary. This expectation is based on the important role of the U.S. subsidiaries in RBC’s overall business strategy, of which RBC Centura is a relevant part, and the incentive for RBC to support a regulated deposit taking bank subsidiary that carries its name.

RBC Centura Banks, Inc., a bank holding company headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, reported US$19.8 billion in assets at June 30, 2005.