Exhibit 99.1

Southeastern Bank Financial Corp. Reports Positive Earnings

for the Fourth Quarter and Year-End 2011

AUGUSTA, Ga., Jan. 27, 2012 – Southeastern Bank Financial Corp. (OTCBB:SBFC), the holding company for Georgia Bank & Trust Company of Augusta (GB&T), today reported quarterly net income of $3.0 million, or $0.45 in diluted earnings per share, for the three months ended Dec. 31, 2011, compared to quarterly net income of $2.1 million, or $0.32 in diluted earnings per share, in the fourth quarter of 2010. For the full year, the company reported net income of $11.0 million, or $1.65 per diluted share, compared to net income of $6.9 million, or $1.03 per diluted share, for 2010.

“It was a very positive fourth quarter and full year for our company,” said R. Daniel Blanton, president and chief executive officer. “We increased net income and earnings in each quarter in 2011, we grew our net interest margin by 23 basis points year over year, our credit quality remained stable throughout the year, enabling us to lower our provision for loan losses by 20.4 percent for the year, and we were successful in our efforts to keep costs in line as evidenced by our noninterest expense, which grew only 0.5 percent for the full year. All of which gives us solid momentum as we enter 2012.”

“We still must contend with weak loan demand, however,” said Blanton. “Our mortgage revenue in 2011 was 18 percent lower than in 2010 and our core loans were down $28.1 million. This will continue to be a point of focus for us as we move forward.”

At Dec. 31, 2011, total assets were $1.6 billion, an increase of $7.7 million from Dec. 31, 2010. Loans outstanding at the end of the fourth quarter of 2011 were $875.1 million, compared to $886.9 million at Dec. 31, 2010. Total deposits at Dec. 31, 2011, were $1.4 billion, an increase of $8.5 million from a year ago. Cash and cash equivalents totaled $69.8 million at the end of the fourth quarter.

Net interest income for the fourth quarter of 2011 was $12.4 million, an increase of $199,000 from the same period a year ago. Noninterest income for the quarter was $5.7 million, an increase of $364,000 from the fourth quarter of 2010. Noninterest expense in the fourth quarter of 2011 totaled $11.6 million, an increase of $744,000 from the same period a year ago.

Nonperforming assets at Dec. 31, 2011, were 3.19 percent of total assets, compared to 2.34 percent at Sept. 30, 2011, and 2.12 percent at Dec. 31, 2010. Net charge-offs for the fourth quarter of 2011 totaled 1.26 percent of average loans on an annualized basis, compared to 1.20 percent annualized in the third quarter of 2011 and 1.27 percent annualized in the fourth quarter of 2010. Net charge-offs for the year totaled 1.18 percent of average loans, compared to 1.24 percent for 2010. The company held $6.2 million in other real estate owned (OREO) at Dec. 31, 2011, compared to $7.9 million at Sept. 30, 2011, and $7.8 million at Dec. 31, 2010.

The provision for loan losses totaled $2.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2011, compared to $3.5 million in the third quarter of 2011 and $4.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2010. Allowance for loan losses totaled $29.0 million, or 3.43 percent of loans outstanding, at Dec. 31, 2011, compared to $29.3 million, or 3.50 percent of loans outstanding, at Sept. 30, 2011, and $26.7 million, or 3.05 percent of loans outstanding, at Dec. 31, 2010.

The company’s net interest margin was 3.28 percent at Dec. 31, 2011, compared to 3.51 percent at Sept. 30, 2011, and 3.17 percent a year ago. Return on average assets (ROA) was 0.74 percent for the fourth quarter of 2011, an increase of 22 basis points from the same period a year ago, and return on average shareholders’ equity (ROE) was 10.37 percent, an increase of 221 basis points from the same period a year ago.

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Net interest income for the 12 months ended Dec. 31, 2011, was $50.6 million, an increase of $4.7 million from the same period in 2010. Noninterest income for the full year 2011 was $19.7 million, compared to $21.1 million in 2010. Noninterest expense in 2011 totaled $42.0 million, an increase of $226,000 from 2010. The company’s net interest margin was 3.41 percent for the full year, compared to 3.18 percent for 2010.

On December 5, 2011, the Company’s South Carolina bank subsidiary, Southern Bank & Trust (SB&T) merged with and into GB&T, with GB&T surviving the merger. SB&T continues to operate as a division of GB&T under the trade name of Southern Bank & Trust in South Carolina.

“We enter 2012 in a good position,” said Blanton. “Our goal is to build on the foundation we laid in 2011, while exploring ways of generating additional revenue growth to help offset the lack of loan demand.”

About Southeastern Bank Financial Corp.

Southeastern Bank Financial Corp. is the $1.6 billion-asset bank holding company of Georgia Bank & Trust Company of Augusta (GB&T). GB&T is the largest locally owned and operated community bank in the Augusta metro market, with nine full-service Augusta-area offices, three full-service offices in Aiken County, S.C. operating as Southern Bank & Trust and one limited service Loan Production Office in Athens, GA. The company also has mortgage operations in Augusta and Savannah. The banks focus primarily on real estate, commercial and consumer loans to individuals, small to medium-sized businesses and professionals, and also provide wealth management and trust services. The company’s common stock is publicly traded on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol SBFC. For more information, please visit the company’s Web site, www.georgiabankandtrust.com.

Safe Harbor Statement – Forward-Looking Statements

Statements made in this release by Southeastern Bank Financial Corporation (The Company) other than those concerning historical information, should be considered forward-looking and subject to various risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements are made based upon management’s belief as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management pursuant to “safe harbor”

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provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company’s actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors, including: unanticipated changes in the Bank’s local economy and in the national economy; governmental monetary and fiscal policies; deposit levels, loan demand, loan collateral values and securities portfolio values; difficulties in interest rate risk management; difficulties in operating in a variety of geographic areas; the effects of competition in the banking business; changes in governmental regulation relating to the banking industry, including regulations relating to branching and acquisitions; failure of assumptions underlying the establishment of reserves for loan losses, including the value of collateral underlying delinquent loans; and other factors. The Company cautions that such factors are not exclusive. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by, or on behalf of, the Company.

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SOUTHEASTERN BANK FINANCIAL CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARY

Consolidated Balance Sheets

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SOUTHEASTERN BANK FINANCIAL CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARY

Consolidated Statements of Income

(Unaudited)

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