Community West Bancshares Announces Fourth Quarter and Year-End Results.

Business Editors

GOLETA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 21, 2001

Community West Bancshares today announced operating results for the fourth quarter and the year ended Dec. 31, 2000.

Lew Stone, president and chief executive officer, commented on the results: "This has been a challenging year for Community West Bancshares, a year of profound change and transition. But, this has also been a rewarding year because, through the hard work of the entire CWBC team, we are now in a position to once again deliver the genuinely superior shareholder value that this organization was originally founded to provide.

"Strategic decisions made in 2000 have laid the groundwork for a return to accelerated growth in the immediate future. We have sold all but 10 percent of our interest in ePacific.com, a provider of customized debit card payment systems and electronic funds transfer and we have recently announced the sale of our wholly-owned subsidiary, Palomar Community Bank. Our subsidiary, Goleta National Bank, has sold more than $160 million in High Loan-to-Value (HLTV) loans and, its total risk-based capital ratio, currently at 12.12%, has never been higher. While the sale of Palomar Community Bank does include a one-time negative impact on our earnings per share, it also provides the capital that will help fuel our growth and maximize shareholder value as we focus our resources on the high growth areas of Consumer Finance lending, SBA lending and Short-Term Consumer lending, which all have the capacity to generate substantial fee income.

"On an operating basis, and excluding a one-time charge for the impairment of goodwill as a result of the sale of Palomar Community Bank, net income for the fourth quarter was $693,579, or $0.11 per share. Net income for the year was $4,807,440, or $0.79 per share ($0.77 per share on a diluted basis).

"Recognition of the impairment to goodwill due to the sale of Palomar Community Bank resulted in a net loss for the fourth quarter of $1,416,724, or $0.23 per share. For the year ended Dec. 31, 2000, net income was $2,697,137, or $0.44 per share ($0.43 per share on a diluted basis) compared to a loss of $1,646,336, or $.30 per share, for fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 1999. Book value per share as of Dec. 31, 2000, was $5.90.

"We are optimistic as we head into 2001. Due to the current lower interest rate environment, which is usually favorable, we are experiencing increased demand in both our mortgage and consumer finance divisions. The fact that this demand is primarily new business and not requests for re-financings is very encouraging."

                      3 Months Ended  12 Months Ended  12 Months Ended
                       Dec. 31, 2000   Dec. 31, 2000    Dec. 31, 1999
Selected Income
 Statement Data

Interest Income      $  14,207,225     $  51,781,189   $  48,494,921

Interest Expense         6,918,815        26,060,114      25,145,230

Net Interest Income      7,288,410        25,721,075      23,349,691

Provision for
   Loan Losses           3,226,484         6,793,812      6,132,959
Net Interest Income
   after Provision
   for Loan Losses       4,061,926        18,927,263      17,216,732

Other Income             3,922,168        16,283,378      11,020,637
Other Expenses           9,968,800        29,975,038      30,505,543
Net (Loss) Income
   before Taxes         (1,984,706)        5,235,603      (2,268,174)
Net (Loss) Income       (1,416,724)        2,697,137      (1,646,336)

Earnings (Loss)
 Per Share - from
 Operations           $       0.11      $       0.79    $      (0.30)

Loss From Impairment
  of Goodwill         $      (0.35)     $      (0.35)   $         --

(Loss) Earnings
  per Share - Basic   $      (0.23)     $       0.44    $      (0.30)

(Loss) Earnings
  per Share - Diluted $      (0.23)     $       0.43    $      (0.30)

Weighted Average
  Shares Outstanding     6,107,216         6,107,216       5,494,217
Diluted Shares
  Outstanding            6,115,718         6,233,245       5,494,217

                                          Selected Balance Sheet Data
                                                as of December 31,
                                              2000           1999
Loans                                    $ 329,264,597  $ 451,663,836
Deposits                                   228,719,979    313,130,715
Equity                                      36,034,608     33,932,142
Total Assets                               405,255,320    523,846,767

Company Overview

Community West Bancshares is a financial services company with headquarters in Goleta, Calif. The Company is the holding company for Goleta National Bank, which has two full service branches, one in Goleta and one in Ventura, Calif. Goleta National Bank is one of the Nation's largest SBA leaders with loan production offices located in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Oregon, Nevada and Washington. The principal going-forward business areas and profit generators of the company are Core Banking and Short-Term Consumer lending with net interest margins, Small Business Administration (SBA) lending with fee income, and mortgage-based Consumer Finance lending with fee income.

Safe Harbor Disclosure

This release contains forward-looking statements that reflect management's current views of future events and operations. These forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to the Company as of the date of this release. It is important to note that these forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to, the ability of the Company to implement its strategy and expand its lending operations. Furthermore the Company will have certain restrictions placed on its operations by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency until it deems that it has substantially complied with the letter agreement signed by the GNB board of directors. The Company has attempted to incorporate these restrictions into its business plans and it believes that they will not impact the organization's earnings ability into the future.