Banknorth Increases Quarterly Dividend

Portland, Maine, April 23, 2002 - Banknorth Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG) announced today that its Board of Directors has approved a quarterly dividend of 14.5 cents per share based on record earnings for the first quarter ended March 31, 2002. The dividend is 11.5% higher than the quarterly dividend paid following the first quarter a year ago and more than 7% higher than the dividend paid following the previous quarter ended December 31, 2002.

The quarterly dividend will be paid on May 13, 2002 to shareholders of record on May 3, 2002.

The quarterly dividend was announced at the Company's Annual Meeting held today in South Portland, Maine. At the meeting, shareholders elected the following directors:

Three-year terms:
P. Kevin Condron, president and chief executive officer of The Granite Group in New Hampshire; Colleen A. Khoury, Dean of the University of Maine School of Law; Irving E. Rogers, III, publisher of the Eagle-Tribune and other newspapers in Massachusetts and New Hampshire; William J. Ryan, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Banknorth Group, Inc.; Curtis M. Scribner, principal of C. M. Scribner & Co. in Portland, Maine.

Two-year term:
Luther F. Hackett, president and chief executive officer of HVM Corp. based in Vermont.

One-year term:
Allen M. Glick, private investor.

Shareholders also approved an Executive Incentive Plan, amended the Company's Employee Stock Purchase Plan, and reappointed KPMG LLP as independent auditors for 2002.

Banknorth Group, Inc., headquartered in Portland, Maine, is one of the country's 35 largest commercial banking companies with total assets of $20.9 billion at March 31, 2002. The Company's banking subsidiary, Banknorth, N.A., conducts banking operations through the following divisions: Peoples Heritage Bank in Maine, Bank of New Hampshire, Banknorth Massachusetts, Banknorth Vermont, Banknorth Connecticut, and Evergreen Bank in upstate New York. Banknorth also operates subsidiaries and divisions in insurance, investment planning, money management, leasing, merchant services, mortgage banking, government banking and other financial services. FMI about Banknorth and branch locations, go to www.banknorth.com.