EXHIBIT 99.1







                     [WHG BANCSHARES CORPORATION LETTERHEAD]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE               FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
- ----------------------              -------------------------------------
March 18, 1997                      Peggy J. Stewart
                                    President and Chief Executive Officer
                                    (410) 583-8700

            WHG BANCSHARES CORPORATION ANNOUNCES STOCK REPURCHASE

      Lutherville,  Maryland  -- WHG  Bancshares  Corporation  (Nasdaq  SmallCap
Market-WHGB),  the parent  holding  company of Heritage  Savings  Bank,  F.S.B.,
Lutherville,  Maryland, today announced that it intends to initiate a repurchase
plan covering up to 5%, or 81,003  shares,  of the Company's  common stock to be
purchased in the open market.  The Company  currently  has  1,620,062  shares of
common stock outstanding.  Mrs. Peggy J. Stewart,  President and Chief Executive
Officer of the Company,  indicated that the repurchase  plan could mitigate some
of the potentially dilutive effects of the Company's stock option plan and would
also be available for general  corporate use. The repurchases  will be made from
time to time in open-market transactions, subject to the availability of stock.

      In January of this year,  the Board of Directors  approved a repurchase of
up to 10% of the  outstanding  stock of the  Company.  The Company  subsequently
filed  an  application  with  the  Office  of  Thrift  Supervision  ("OTS")  for
permission to repurchase  up to 10% of the  Company's  outstanding  common stock
during the first year  following  the  conversion of the Bank from the mutual to
stock form of ownership (the  "Conversion").  The OTS has routinely granted such
requests in the past and has permitted  additional  repurchases  of up to 15% in
the second year following the Conversion.  The Company fully expected to receive
permission  from the OTS,  and  intended,  to  conduct a 10%  repurchase  at the
present time and apply for  additional  repurchases in the second year following
the Conversion. However, on February 27, 1997, the OTS informed the Company that
it had changed its position  regarding stock  repurchases by recently  converted
institutions and would no longer allow such institutions to repurchase any stock
during the first year following the Conversion and would only allow  repurchases
up to 5% in  years  two and  three  following  Conversion.  The  Company  argued
vigorously in favor of a 10% repurchase and against having this recent change in
the OTS position being applied to the Company  retroactively,  and appealed this
decision to the highest levels of OTS management.  After such appeals were made,
the OTS  permitted  the Company to  repurchase  up to 5% of its stock during the
first year following Conversion.

      John E. Lufburrow,  Chairman of the Board of the Company,  stated that the
Company  was "very  disappointed  at the  decision of the OTS in applying a new,
more  restrictive  position  to an  application  that had been on file under the
prior OTS position for approximately 30 days. We converted under the expectation
that we






would be able to do significant stock  repurchases  during the first three years
following  our  conversion.  We  believe  it is unfair for the OTS to change the
repurchase  rules  restricting our ability to prudently deploy our capital after
we were  required to raise over $16  million in new  capital in our  Conversion,
which resulted in the Company becoming over-capitalized.  The OTS has offered us
no  justification  or explanation for its decision,  which will adversely affect
the  ability  of  recently  converted   institutions,   like  ours,  to  enhance
shareholder value."

      The  Company  became the holding  company for the Bank on March 29,  1996,
following its initial public offering at the time of the Conversion.

      Heritage Savings Bank,  F.S.B. is a federally  chartered savings bank that
conducts its business from its main office located in Lutherville, Maryland, one
branch office located in Baltimore City, Maryland, two branch offices located in
Baltimore  County,  Maryland,  and one branch office  located in Howard  County,
Maryland.  The Bank's deposits are insured up to the maximum legal amount by the
Federal Deposit  Insurance  Corporation  (FDIC).  The Company's  common stock is
traded on the Nasdaq SmallCap Market under the symbol "WHGB."