CHINO, Calif., Feb. 24, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Dann H. Bowman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Chino Commercial Bank, N.A., announced today that the Bank's Board of Directors has proposed a three-for-two stock split of the Bank's Common Stock. The stock split is subject to the approval of the Bank's shareholders and will be issued to the owners of record as of May 20, 2004, the date of the shareholders' meeting at which time shareholder approval will be solicited. Assuming the stock split is approved by the shareholders, owners of record as of May 20 will receive one additional share of stock for every two shares owned on that date. It is anticipated that the additional shares will be issued on or about June 17, 2004.
This is the Bank's first stock split since beginning operations on September 1, 2000. The Bank reported net earnings for the year ending December 31, 2003 of $500,509 or $0.88 per diluted share on an asset base of $58.6 million. The Bank reported a return on average equity of 9.66% and a return on average assets of 0.99% for the year ended December 31, 2003. Shares of the Bank are listed on the OTCBB under the ticker symbol "CKNA". (OTCBB:CKNA)