MEMPHIS, Tenn., Aug. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- National Commerce Bancorporation
(Nasdaq: NCBC) and the former CCB Financial Corporation (CCB), which closed
their merger of equals on July 5, have been named the nation's fifth and sixth
best-performing mid-size banks, respectively.
    The rankings were published recently in U.S. Banker, a leading industry
trade publication, and included banks with asset sizes ranging from
$2.9 billion to $11.4 billion.  Banks were ranked on six criteria: average
return on equity for one, three and five years through 1999 and earnings per
share growth over the same periods.
    The new, combined company, called National Commerce Bancorporation, is
headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, with $15 billion in assets and nearly
400 locations in Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi,
Arkansas, Georgia, Virginia, Florida and West Virginia.
    The two banks "have always scored near the top of U.S. Banker's annual
rankings, whether the rankings are based primarily on earnings, as they are
this year, or on balance-sheet strength, as they had been in previous years,"
the magazine says.
    "National Commerce is particularly well-known for its skill in serving
customers through branches in supermarkets and for its rapid growth," the
article continues.  "The merger of the two is expected to combine National
Commerce's retail expertise with CCB's commercial prowess."
    In an earlier report, Salomon Smith Barney ranked NCBC as #1 performing
bank, and CCB Financial the #2 performer, for the year 1999 in a ranking of
the top 50 U.S. banks based on market capitalization.
    CCB and NCBC announced the proposed merger in March.  The transaction was
approved by their respective shareholders on June 29, and closed July 5.
    "You build top-performing banks with talented people," said NCBC Chairman
Thomas M. Garrott.  "The employees throughout CCB and NCBC have earned the
recognition their companies are receiving, and should be extremely proud."
    Said Ernest C. Roessler, NCBC president and CEO and former chairman of
CCB, "Our companies share values, such as integrity and customer focus, and
also goals such as strategic growth and creating shareholder value.  What we
have done separately, we can do even better together by integrating and
leveraging our outstanding talent, convenient distribution network and
services."

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