ATLANTA, July 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Premier Bancshares, Inc. (AMEX: PMB),
announced that Sterne, Agee & Leach, Inc. has initiated coverage of the
company's stock and has issued a Buy/Hold rating for Premier Bancshares, Inc.
    Darrell D. Pittard, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Premier
Bancshares, Inc., said, "We are pleased to have received this vote of
confidence from the investment community.  On the heels of this buy
recommendation, we were also delighted to announce strong second quarter
earnings."
    The Company reported record net earnings of $2,224,000, or $.28 per share
for the quarter.  This compares to net earnings of $1,454,000, or $.18 per
share for the same period in 1996.
    Year to date the Company reported earnings of $4,089,000, or $.52 per
share, compared to $2,959,000, or $.37 per share for the six months ended
June 30, 1996.  This is an increase of 38% over the comparable period.
Premier Bancshares, Inc. has current assets of $587,424,000, as compared to
assets of $476,674,000 at June 30, 1996.
    On June 24, 1997, Premier Bancshares, Inc. and Citizens Gwinnett
Bankshares, Inc. jointly announced that they had executed a definitive
agreement for Premier Bancshares, Inc. to acquire all of the outstanding
shares of stock of Citizens Gwinnett Bankshares, Inc.  Citizens Gwinnett
Bankshares, Inc. is a single bank holding company operating the third largest
community bank doing business in Gwinnett County, the Citizens Bank of
Gwinnett.  Citizens Gwinnett Bankshares, Inc. has assets of approximately
$155 million, and equity of approximately $11 million.
    The acquisition of Citizens Gwinnett Bankshares, Inc., which is expected
to close before the end of the year, is subject to shareholder and regulatory
approvals and other conditions including, but not limited to, that the
transaction will qualify for "pooling of interests" accounting treatment.
The acquisition will bring the assets of Premier Bancshares, Inc. to
approximately $700 million.  Premier Bancshares, Inc. is a bank and thrift
holding company with five subsidiaries operating 27 offices located in the
state of Georgia.
    The Sterne, Agee & Leach, Inc. report on Premier Bancshares, Inc. is as
follows:

    July 8, 1997      Rating:  Buy/Hold          Suitability:  Aggressive
    Sterne, Agee & Leach, Inc.

                        Premier Bancshares, Inc.
                             (PMB/AMEX)

    Coverage initiated
    Premier Bancshares is a $700 million-asset (pro forma for pending
acquisitions) bank holding company based in Atlanta, Georgia that has
27 offices in Atlanta, North Georgia, Milledgeville, and elsewhere.  It is a
fast-growing, evolving super-community bank that is being forged by a dynamic
management team in the wake of the radical changes in Atlanta banking over the
past decade.  The company's business strategy emphasizes mortgage banking and
middle market commercial lending.

    'Buy/Hold' Rating Initiated
    We are initiating coverage with a Buy/Hold rating and consider Premier
shares to be an excellent vehicle for aggressive investors looking for the
likely successor to Bank South in broadly serving Atlanta's middle market.

    Industry: Financial Institutions/Commercial Banking
    Headquarters:  Atlanta, Georgia

    Current Price:      $15-1/8                     52-Week Range:    $18-$10

    FY Ends Dec         1996A*   1997E*     1998E*    Dividend:        $0.32
    Q1-March             NA     $0.23PF     $0.30     Yield:            2.1%
    Q2-June              NA     $0.25       $0.32     Book value*:     $5.85E
    Q3-September         NA     $0.27       $0.33     Market Cap:    $120 mil.
    Q4-December          NA     $0.30       $0.35     Shares Outs:    7.9 mil.
    Full Year           $0.68   $1.05       $1.30   Avg. daily Vol:  2,326
                                                      Inst. Holdings:    1%
    P/E Ratio           22.3     14.4       11.6    Insider Holdings**:  22%

    Selected Financial Ratios**             1996           1Q97
    Return on Assets:                       0.98%         1.53%
    Return on Equity:                       10.9%         19.5
    Efficiency Ratio:                         82            78
    Equity/Assets:                           7.9           7.8


    DJIA: 7,962.31             S&P 500:  916.75        NASDAQ:  1,485.07
     *EPS and book value per share are pro forma for completed and pending
       acquisitions.
    **Originally reported.

    A Fast-Moving, Nimble Acquiror -- $700 million in (pro forma) assets in
      less than five years.
    The vacuum in Atlanta's community banking structure that has resulted from
a decade of acquisitions, including a rampage of community bank acquisitions
over the past five years, has yet to be filled by a larger organization.
Premier appears to have moved into the lead.  Our opinion is that whatever
bank does accede to the level of the first -- only? -- larger community bank
will have a most valuable franchise indeed.

                        Corporate Events Summary

                                                                      ASSETS
    DATE         COMPANY                  EVENT                      ($Mil.)
    1993         Premier Lending Corp.    Establishment of
                                           mortgage operation           ---
    January 1995 Alliance Finance         Acquisition of 80%
                                           interest (by First
                                           Alliance Bancorp)            ---

    April 1995   Allatoona Federal        Acquisition                  $ 45

    August 1996  First Alliance Bancorp   Acquisition                  $167

    January 1997 Premier Bancshares       Name change from First
                                           Alliance/Premier
                                           Bancshares                   ---

    January 1997 Central and Southern     Acquisition announcement
                  Holding Company          (completed 6/23/97)         $232

    June 1997    Citizens Gwinnett
                  Bankshares              Acquisition announcement     $155

    July 1997    Alliance Finance         Announced sales of 80%
                                           interest                    $  3

    'DO SOMETHING' CEO
    The story of Premier is the story of Darrell Pittard, its CEO.  Pittard is
known by many financial institution investors as a money-making CEO.  As a
veteran of Atlanta community banking, Pittard seems now to have a new stride
in building Premier.  A process of building management depth continues and is
resulting in a strong corporate team.

    VALUATION DESERVEDLY HIGH -- Set to grow more than 20% annually.
    Pittard's money-making reputation is perhaps the reason that Premier's
investment merits have not gone unnoticed.  At $15-1/8, the shares are
currently valued at 11.6 times our 1998 estimated earnings per share of $1.30
and 2.59 times our roughly estimated pro forma book value of $5.85 per share
at March 31, 1997.
    Our belief that Premier shares represent good long-term value compared
with other bank stocks is based on our confidence the company's strategy and
its implementation.  Trend growth should exceed 20% for the foreseeable
future.  At $700 million in assets, Premier would seem to have few obstacles
to such above-trend growth based on the market structure of banking in and
around Atlanta and is, in our opinion, actually better positioned to grow than
smaller banks with less depth of lending and technological expertise.
    Contact - Kathryn H. Bissette, Senior Vice President, Sterne, Agee &
Leach, 404-814-3909.

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