EXPLANATORY NOTE

          On April 27, 2012, First Financial Holdings, Inc. (“First Financial”) filed a Current Report on Form 8-K (the “Original Report”) to report that First Federal Bank (“First Federal”), a South Carolina-chartered commercial bank and wholly owned subsidiary of First Financial, assumed all deposits and substantially all assets and certain other liabilities of Plantation Federal Bank (“Plantation”), a full-service community bank headquartered in Pawleys Island, South Carolina, from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), as receiver for Plantation (the “Transaction”). The Transaction was made pursuant to a purchase and assumption agreement, in the FDIC’s customary form, entered into by First Federal and the FDIC as of April 27, 2012 (the “P&A Agreement”).

          This Current Report on Form 8-K/A (this “Amendment”) amends and supplements the disclosure provided in the Original Report and is being filed to supplement and update the disclosures in Items 1.01 and 2.01 and the financial information required by Item 9.01. Except as otherwise provided herein, the other disclosures made in the Original Report remain unchanged. All financial and other numeric measures for Plantation as described in this Amendment are based on information as of April 27, 2012, and may be subject to change. In addition, the fair values of the acquired loans and the FDIC indemnification asset remain subject to finalization and revision by First Federal in accordance with accounting guidance on business acquisitions.

          Statements in this release that are not statements of historical fact, including without limitation, statements that include terms such as “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” “forecasts,” “intends,” “plans,” “targets,” “potentially,” “probably,” “projects,” “outlook,” or similar expressions or future conditional verbs such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “would,” or “could” constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements regarding First Financial’s future financial and operating results, plans, objectives, expectations and intentions involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond First Financial’s control or are subject to change. No forward-looking statement is a guarantee of future performance and actual results could differ materially from those anticipated by the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, the general business environment, general economic conditions nationally and in the States of North and South Carolina; interest rates; the North and South Carolina real estate markets; the demand for mortgage loans; the credit risk of lending activities, including changes in the level and trend of delinquent and nonperforming loans and charge-offs; changes in First Federal’s allowance for loan losses and provision for loan losses that may be affected by deterioration in the housing and real estate markets; results of examinations by banking regulators, including the possibility that any such regulatory authority may, among other things, require First Federal to increase its allowance for loan losses, write-down assets, change First Federal’s regulatory capital position or affect its ability to borrow funds or maintain or increase deposits, which could adversely affect liquidity and earnings; First Financial’s ability to control operating costs and expenses; First Financial’s ability to successfully integrate any assets, liabilities, customers, systems, and management personnel acquired or may in the future acquire into its operations and its ability to realize related revenue synergies and cost savings within expected time frames and any goodwill charges related thereto; competitive conditions between banks and non-bank financial services providers; and regulatory changes including the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Other risks are also detailed in First Financial’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), which are available at the SEC’s website www.sec.gov. Other factors not currently anticipated may also materially and adversely affect First Financial’s results of operations, financial position, and cash flows. There can be no assurance that future results will meet expectations. While First Financial believes that the forward-looking statements in this release are reasonable, the reader should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statement. In addition, these statements speak only as of the date made. First Financial does not undertake, and expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter any statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

          The information disclosed under Item 2.01 is incorporated by reference into this Item 1.01.

          The following discussion of assets acquired and liabilities assumed is presented at estimated fair value on the date of the P&A Agreement. The fair values of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed were determined as described in Note 2 to First Financial’s statement of assets acquired and liabilities assumed, dated April 27, 2012, and the accompanying