Exhibit "99.1"
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Community West Bancshares NEWS
5827 Hollister Avenue RELEASE
Goleta, CA 93114
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Randy Shaffer
Phone: 805-692-1862
FAX: 805-692-8902
URL: http://www.community west.com
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SYMBOL: CWBC
COMMUNITY WEST BANCSHARES COMPLETES
PALOMAR SAVINGS ACQUISITION
Goleta, California, December 16 - - Lew Stone, President & CEO of Community
West Bancshares (Nasdaq:CWBC), announced today the completion of the acquisition
of Palomar Savings & Loan Association effective December 14, 1998. The
acquisition, which was accounted for as a pooling of interests, was first
announced on April 23, 1998. Stone said, "We are extremely excited about the
inclusion of Palomar Savings into the Community West family of companies. Their
experienced professional personnel and outstanding community reputation are
tremendous assets to our organization." As a result of this transaction,
Palomar, along with Goleta National Bank, becomes a subsidiary of Community
West.
Under the terms of the transaction, Community West will issue approximately
1,367,000 of its common shares in exchange for all of the outstanding stock of
Palomar. The consolidated company has approximately $250,000,000 in assets and
$24,000,000 in shareholders' equity. Stone said "Our greater combined lending
limits will allow us to service many more customers. In addition, Palomar
provides Community West access to the San Diego County residential and
commercial markets. San Diego County is an area where we can further expand our
SBA and other commercial lending activities.
Community West Bancshares is a financial services company with headquarters
in Goleta, California. Goleta National Bank, subsidiary of the Company, has
loan production offices located in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, and
Nevada. In addition, Goleta National Bank is majority owner of Electronic
Paycheck, LLC. Palomar Savings & Loan Association, subsidiary of the Company,
has two full service branches and a loan production office, all located in
Escondido, California.
This release contains forward-looking statements which 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 successful implementation of expansion plans.
The Company's actual results may differ materially from those in the
forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including
general economic conditions and "Competition" as described in the Company's Form
10-K for the year ended December 31, 1997.