Books $3.2 Million Pre-Tax Gain in Fourth Quarter

    SAN DIEGO, Dec. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Bank of Commerce (Nasdaq: BCOM) today
announced it has completed the sale of $24.7 million of the unguaranteed
portion of its Small Business Administration (SBA) 7(a) loan portfolio to
General Electric (GE) Capital Small Business Finance Corporation of St. Louis,
Missouri, a division of General Electric Corporation (NYSE: GE).  Bank of
Commerce will record a $3.2 million pretax gain in the fourth quarter, 1997 as
a result of this transaction.
    "This transaction is the first time in our 22 year history that we have
marketed only the unguaranteed portion of SBA loans in our portfolio," stated
Peter Q. Davis, Chairman and CEO of Bank of Commerce.  "In the past the
unguaranteed portion of our SBA loans were sold only as part of a
securitization.  The authority to sell only the unguaranteed portion is a
relatively new right, and the ability to sell individual loans affords our
asset management team greater flexibility in addressing the Bank's liquidity
and capital needs."
    This loan transaction represents 7.1% of Bank of Commerce's $351 million
SBA loan portfolio and 6.4% of its total loan portfolio of $393 million.  The
reported gain stems from receiving a premium over the face amount of the loans
and the immediate recognition of fee income that was being amortized over the
life of the loans in the portfolio.
    "By selling the unguaranteed portion of our SBA loan portfolio, we are
able to continue to hold the majority of SBA guaranteed portions, which
contain no credit risk.  In addition, the guaranteed portion of SBA loans
require less regulatory capital for holding purposes and therefore, allow us
to expand our asset base more quickly," Davis explained.  "This sale is part
of our ongoing strategy to resume sales of portions of our SBA portfolio to
balance our asset growth with income generation."
    Bank of Commerce is the nation's leading SBA bank lender and the largest
publicly held independent bank headquartered in San Diego County.  The bank
operates twelve specially designated loan production offices in San Diego,
Glendale, Orange, Sacramento, and San Francisco, CA; Las Vegas and Reno, NV;
Phoenix and Tucson, AZ; Seattle, WA, Portland, OR, and Denver, CO.  In
addition, Bank of Commerce operates seven full service branches in
San Diego, Palm Desert, and Temecula, CA.  Yesterday, December 16, BCOM closed
at $18.63 per share/post split.
    NOTE:  Statements concerning future performance, developments or events,
concerning expectations for growth and market forecasts, and any other
guidance on future periods, constitute forward-looking statements which are
subject to a number of risks and uncertainties which might cause actual
results to differ materially from stated expectations.
    This company is a client of Len Cereghino & Co. Corporate Investor
Relations.
    Bank of Commerce press releases are available at no charge through PR
Newswire's Company News On-Call fax service.  For a menu of Bank of Commerce
press releases or to retrieve a specific release, call 800-IRNEWS9, extension
123798, or http://www.prnewswire.com/cnoc/exec/menu?123798 on the Internet.

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