PacWest Bancorp Announces Results For The Third Quarter Of 2010

Net Earnings of $3.5 Million

Net Interest Margin of 5.08%

Credit Loss Reserve at 3.05% of Net Non-Covered Loans

Los Padres Bank Acquisition Closed on August 20, 2010

Core Deposits Grow $264.0 Million

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 20, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PacWest Bancorp (Nasdaq:PACW) today announced net earnings for the third quarter of 2010 of $3.5 million, or $0.10 per diluted share, compared to net earnings of $2.7 million, or $0.07 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2010. Third quarter earnings include the operating results of Los Padres Bank ("Los Padres"), which was acquired in an FDIC-assisted transaction on August 20, 2010 and added $420,000 in net earnings for the period since the acquisition.

This press release contains non-GAAP financial disclosures for tangible common equity. The Company uses certain non-GAAP financial measures to provide meaningful supplemental information regarding the Company's operational performance and to enhance investors' overall understanding of such financial performance. Because the use of tangible common equity amounts and ratios is becoming more prevalent among banking regulators, investors and analysts, we disclose our tangible common equity ratios in addition to equity-to-assets ratios. Please refer to the table at the end of this release for a presentation of performance ratios in accordance with GAAP and a reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures to the GAAP financial measures.

THIRD QUARTER RESULTS

	Three Months Ended
	September 30,	June 30,
	2010	2010
	(Dollars in thousands, except per share data)
Financial Highlights:
Net earnings	$ 3,500	$ 2,705
Diluted earnings per share	$ 0.10	$ 0.07
Annualized return on average assets	0.25%	0.21%
Annualized return on average equity	2.82%	2.26%
Net interest margin	5.08%	4.85%
Efficiency ratio	60.8%	61.4%
At Quarter End:
Allowance for credit losses to non-covered loans net of unearned income (1)	3.05%	2.93%
Equity to assets ratios:
PacWest Bancorp Consolidated	8.60%	9.44%
Pacific Western Bank	10.17%	11.15%
Tangible common equity ratios:
PacWest Bancorp Consolidated	7.39%	8.94%
Pacific Western Bank	8.98%	10.66%
(1) Non-covered loans exclude all loans from the Los Padres and Affinity acquisitions.

The $795,000 improvement in third quarter net earnings compared to the prior quarter is due mostly to the combination of higher net interest income offset by higher net credit-related costs and higher noninterest expense. The increase in net interest income was due primarily to the growth in loans from the Los Padres acquisition and the July 1, 2010 purchase of $234.1 million in performing real estate loans. The third quarter includes three items which together reduced pre-tax earnings by $1.5 million: a net impairment loss of $175,000 on an investment security; $900,000 in severance to terminated employees; and $430,000 in legal settlements. There were no such items in the second quarter other than employee severance of $120,000.