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COMMUNITY WEST BANCSHARES
445 PINE AVENUE, GOLETA, CA 93117
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: LYNDA RADKE, CFO
PHONE: 805-692-1862
FAX: 805-692-5835
URL: HTTP://WWW.COMMUNITYWEST.COM
SYMBOL: CWBC
COMMUNITY WEST BANCSHARES
REPURCHASES STOCK
Goleta, California, September 26, 2001 - Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC)
today announced the signing of a privately negotiated stock purchase agreement
with outside shareholders. Under the terms of the agreement, the Company has
agreed to purchase 266,259 shares or 4.49% of its outstanding common stock in
exchange for $1.73 million in cash. This transaction is expected to close on
September 27, 2001 and will increase book value per share by $.01.
This purchase is in addition to the previously announced resumption of the
Company's stock buyback plan.
COMPANY OVERVIEW
Community West Bancshares is a financial services company with headquarters in
Goleta, California. The Company's subsidiary, 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 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.