April 3, 2008

People's United Financial Announces Expense Reductions Of $57 Million, Including Reduction Of 420 Positions

Job Elimination Notices Given to 170 Employees

BRIDGEPORT, CT. - People's United Financial, Inc. (Nasdaq: PBCT) announced today that, as a result of an ongoing assessment of its business, it is reducing the size of its workforce across the entire organization. Overall, the changes will result in an estimated $57 million decrease in annualized company expenses, excluding severance costs.

In total, approximately 420 positions were eliminated companywide. The company eliminated 150 vacant positions and also expects to eliminate about 100 positions through attrition. Lastly, it notified 170 employees yesterday that their positions were eliminated. At of the end of the first quarter, the total number of employees at People's United was 4,985.

"We continually monitor our business requirements and make adjustments as needed to be more efficient and to meet our customers' needs and investors' expectations," said Philip R. Sherringham, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Our ongoing focus on this process is heightened right now due to specific opportunities created by the combination of People's United Financial and Chittenden Corp. as well as by broad challenges facing the banking sector and the economy.

Our financial condition, with over $2 billion in excess capital, continues to provide us with significant strength and flexibility," Sherringham said. "While we remain focused on building revenues, we also need to keep an eye on costs.

"Reducing headcount is a difficult, but necessary part of expense reductions," he continued. "Decisions like these are among the most difficult for any business and its leaders to make."

As a result of the business assessment, the company also decided to consolidate approximately 20 branches identified after a detailed review of several factors including customer volume, geographic strategy and market growth potential. The branches will begin to close in the third quarter of this year. Affected customers will be notified in writing 30 to 90 days prior to any branch closing.

"We want to ensure our branch network is appropriate for our customers' needs, the current banking sector environment and our expanded geographic footprint," Sherringham said. "In making these difficult decisions, we consistently seek to minimize the customer impact."

People's United Financial, a diversified financial services company with $21 billion in assets, provides consumer and commercial banking services through a network of more than 300 branches in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and New York. Through its subsidiaries, People's United Financial provides equipment financing, asset management, brokerage and financial advisory services, and insurance services.