Community West Bancshares Reports Record First Quarter Results With Increased Earnings Projection for the Year 2000.

Business Editors & High Tech Writers

GOLETA, Calif.--(BUISNESS WIRE)--May 1, 2000

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) today reported record first quarter 2000 net income of $2,677,000, or $0.44 per diluted share. Book value increased to $5.96 per share.

First quarter net income of $2.677 million includes a one time $1.2 million gain as a result of the sale of a majority interest in ePacific.com, a provider of customized debit card payment systems and electronic funds transfer services. Community West Bancshares continues to hold a minority ownership position in ePacific.com.

Lew Stone, CEO commented, "We are extremely pleased with these very strong results because even after accounting for the one time event, our operational profits still exceeded any prior quarter's net results by an extremely wide margin. In particular, the performance by our portfolio of loans held for sale demonstrates the high quality of our underwriting procedures and validates our decision to actively participate in this highly profitable lending market."

First quarter net income also includes interest income on 2nd mortgage loans underwritten by the bank and held for sale, Approximately $60 million were sold to a third party on March 31, 2000. An additional $28 million of these loans was sold earlier in the quarter. Approximately $65 million of these loans remain to be sold to third parties during the remainder of the current fiscal year. A minimum of $28 million of these loans is expected to sell during the 2nd quarter.

The loss in future income from these second mortgage loans is offset by several factors including the payoff of high-interest CD's, the elimination of significant ongoing expenses from the ePacific business, and the income growth in both our Small Business Administration (SBA) area and our Consumer Finance area.

Increased Earnings Projection for the Year 2000

Based upon the results from the first quarter, financial estimates for the remainder of the year are being upgraded. End of the year Company earnings are now projected to be in the range of $0.80 to $0.90 per share with a resulting book value in the range of $6.30 to $6.45 per share.

Results for Quarter ending March 31, 2000

The results for the quarter ended March 31, 2000 are as follows:

                                                    March 31, 2000

Loans                                                 $361,322,000
Deposits                                              $164,423,000
Equity                                                $ 36,387,000
Total Assets                                          $480,156,000

Interest Income                                       $ 13,863,000
Interest Expense                                      $  6,929,000
Net Interest Income                                   $  6,934,000
Provision for Loan Losses                             $    896,000
Net Interest Income after Provision for Loan Losses   $  6,038,000
Other Income                                          $  5,985,000
Other Expense                                         $  7,350,000
Net Income before Taxes                               $  4,673,000
Income Taxes                                          $  1,996,000
Net Income                                            $  2,677,000

Weighted Average Shares Outstanding                   $  6,104,356
Diluted Shares Outstanding                            $  6,140,238

Earnings per Share - Basic                            $       0.44
Earnings per Share - Diluted                          $       0.44

Company Overview

Community West Bancshares is a financial services company with headquarters in Goleta, California. The Company currently has two subsidiaries. Palomar Community Bank has a full service branch located in Escondido, California. Goleta National Bank has two full service branches, one in Goleta and one in Ventura, California. It is one of the Nation's largest SBA lenders with loan production offices located in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Oregon, Washington, and Nevada. The principal going-forward business areas and profit generators of the Company are core banking with net interest margins, Mortgage lending with fee income and Small Business Administration (SBA) 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.