Business Bancorp Announces 10% Stock Repurchase Program; Regular Quarterly Cash Dividend.

Business Editors

SAN RAFAEL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 4, 2003

Business Bancorp (Nasdaq:BZBC), parent company of Business Bank of California, announced that its Board of Directors authorized the expansion of its common stock repurchase program, providing for the company to repurchase 10% or approximately 394,699 of its 3.95 million shares of common stock outstanding.

This program augments the $5 million repurchase program announced in February of 2002, of which the company has repurchased a total of 266,000 shares for an aggregate purchase price of $3.6 million. The Board of Directors also declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.01 per share payable March 28,2003 to shareholders of record on March 14, 2003.

The company intends to finance the purchases using its available cash. Shares of common stock may be repurchased by the company from time to time in open market transactions or in privately negotiated transactions as permitted under applicable rules and regulations. The repurchase program will begin immediately and may be modified, suspended or terminated at any time without notice. The extent to which the company repurchases its shares and the timing of such repurchases will depend upon market conditions and other corporate considerations. The company currently has 3.95 million shares of common stock outstanding and its stock price closed at $16.35 per share on March 3, 2003.

"We believe repurchasing our stock under the current market conditions is an attractive opportunity and offers an excellent means to build long-term value for our shareholders," said Alan Lane, CEO.

On January 29, 2003, Business Bancorp announced record profits in its fourth quarter and full year with improving efficiencies, strong margins and solid asset quality. Earnings per diluted share (EPS) in the fourth quarter increased 38% to $0.40 compared to $0.29 in the fourth quarter of 2001. For the full year, EPS increased 22% to $1.39 from $1.14 in 2001.

About Business Bancorp

Business Bancorp, parent of Business Bank of California, completed a merger of equals with MCB Financial, parent of Metro Commerce Bank, in December 2001. The bank now has assets of more than $600 million and operates 15 branches offering retail banking, commercial, construction, and SBA lending. The bank operates in the Southern California cities of Corona, Hemet, Hesperia, Ontario, Phelan, Riverside, Redlands, Upland and San Bernardino, and in the Northern California cities of San Rafael, Petaluma, San Francisco, South San Francisco, and Hayward. The branches are strongly focused on providing high quality, personalized services to small businesses, professionals and consumers. For further information on the company, visit our website at www.businessbank.com or e-mail your request to [e-mail] or [e-mail]. Include your name, phone, facsimile, e-mail and mailing address.

This document may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Those factors include, but are not limited to the companies ability to maintain or increase net income, market reaction to its financial results and share repurchase programs, the Company's ability to effect stock repurchases, and other factors. For a discussion of factors that could cause actual results to differ, please see the Company's publicly available Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2001. Except where specified, we do not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect later events or circumstances.