Community West Bancshares Named to Piper Sandler Sm-All Stars: Class of 2021

GOLETA, Calif., Sept. 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Community West Bancshares (“Community West” or the “Company”), (NASDAQ: CWBC), parent company of Community West Bank (the “Bank”), today announced its inclusion in the prestigious Piper Sandler Sm-All Stars – Class of 2021. Piper Sandler has identified Community West Bank as one of the top performing, publicly traded small-cap banks and thrifts in the country.  Community West was one of only three financial institutions in California to achieved this award.

In its “Class of 2021 Bank and Thrift Sm-All Stars” report, Piper Sandler recognized Community West among the top 35 best performing small capitalization institutions from a list of publicly traded banks and thrifts in the U.S. with market capitalizations less than $2.5 billion. In making their selections, Sandler focused on growth, profitability, credit quality and capital strength. Against industry medians, banks needed to out-perform in EPS growth, loan growth, deposit growth and ROAE, and in addition needed to report a NPA ratio below 1% at 6/30/21, a NCO ratio over the last twelve months of less than 35 bps, and a TCE ratio at or above 6.5% at 6/30/21.

“It is an honor to be named as one of the elite small-cap banks and thrifts in the United States,” stated Martin E. Plourd, President and Chief Executive Officer. “We will maintain the same commitment to exceptional banking that has helped us achieve solid returns for our shareholders. The receipt of this award is an honor and a testament to the dedication and commitment of our employees who continue to work diligently to support the communities we serve.”

Company Overview

Community West Bancshares is a financial services company with headquarters in Goleta, California. The Company is the holding company for Community West Bank, the largest publicly traded community bank serving California’s Central Coast area of Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. Community West Bank has seven full-service California branch banking offices in Goleta, Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, Ventura, San Luis Obispo, Oxnard and Paso Robles. The principal business activities of the Company are Relationship Banking, Manufactured Housing lending and Government Guaranteed lending.

Industry Accolades

In April 2021, Community West Bank was awarded a “Super Premier Performance” rating by The Findley Reports. For 52 years, The Findley Reports has been recognizing the financial performance of banking institutions in California and the Western United States. In making their selections, The Findley Reports focuses on these four ratios: growth, return on beginning equity, net operating income as a percentage of average assets, and loan losses as a percentage of gross loans. We are also rated 5-star Superior by Bauer Financial.

Additionally, we received an “Outstanding” rating, the highest rating possible, from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) for our commitment to the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).

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.