MetroCorp Announces New Board Appointments to MetroBank, N.A.; Monto, Roff and Wright Bring Additional Expertise to Board.

Business Editors

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 4, 2001

MetroCorp Bancshares Inc. (Nasdaq:MCBI), a Texas community banking organization serving primarily the Asian and Hispanic markets, announced today that the board of directors of its wholly owned subsidiary, MetroBank, N.A., has recently appointed three new directors.

Allen Brown, president of MetroCorp, said, "We are pleased to announce the appointment of three new members to the board of MetroBank -- Edward Monto, Charles Roff and Dan Wright. These gentlemen have expertise in several fields, including business, law and international affairs. Collectively they bring considerable knowledge of the Houston business community, as well as hands-on exposure to both Latin American and Chinese culture and business. We welcome them and look forward to serving MetroBank's ethnic communities together."

Edward Monto, currently a private investor in Houston, served in two capacities at Reliant Energy International from 1994 through 2000. Most recently he was president and chief operating officer, and before that, vice president business development - Latin America. Prior to that, at Brown & Root Petroleum & Chemicals he served as vice president of marketing and sales for two years. From 1991 through 1993 Monto was vice president of business development worldwide at Brown & Root International. He was president and chief operating officer for the World Trade Division of the Greater Houston Partnership from 1989 until 1991. Monto is currently chairman of the Mayoral Advisory Board for International Affairs and Development - Americas, for the City of Houston. Over the years he has served on a number of boards of educational, business and social service organizations. He holds a bachelor of business administration degree from the University of Miami.

Charles Roff serves as the vice chairman of Roff Resources LLC, a private investment firm in Houston. From 1995 until 1998 he was vice chairman and director of PetroUnited Terminals Inc., a provider of bulk liquid storage services. For seven years prior to that Roff was senior attorney for Sonat Inc. and subsidiaries, and for Sonat Offshore Drilling Inc. He holds juris doctor and bachelor of arts degrees, respectively, from the University of Texas Law School in Austin, Texas (1987) and Wesleyan University in Connecticut (1983). Roff has served in a number of professional organizations, including, among others, as an executive committee member and director of the Asia Society -- Texas Center; the Houston Committee on Foreign Relations; the Houston World Affairs Council; and, the Asian Chamber of Commerce.

Dan Wright is the executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Hopkins-Nanjing Center for Chinese and American Studies, a graduate-level program associated with Johns Hopkins University. From 1997 to 1999 he lived in southwest China under a fellowship with the Institute of Current World Affairs, where he studied and wrote on Chinese governance and social-economic development issues. Prior to that Wright was manager of Asian affairs for the Washington-based consulting firm of Andreae, Vick & Associates, and also worked as a translator at the Foreign Language Bureau in Beijing. He graduated from Vanderbilt University, has a masters in international affairs from the Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies and is a published author.

MetroCorp Bancshares Inc., with $730 million in assets, provides a full range of commercial and consumer banking services through its wholly owned subsidiary, MetroBank, N.A. The company has 14 full-service banking locations in the greater Houston and Dallas metropolitan areas. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.metrobank-na.com.

The statements contained in this release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements describe MetroCorp's future plans, projections, strategies and expectations, are based on assumptions and involve a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond MetroCorp's control. Actual results could differ materially from those projected due to changes in interest rates, competition in the industry, changes in local and national economic conditions and various other factors. Additional information concerning such factors that could affect MetroCorp is contained in MetroCorp's filings with the SEC.