Santa Cruz County Bank Named Super Premier Performing Bank For Ninth Consecutive Year

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Apr 15, 2019, 13:29 ET

SANTA CRUZ, Calif., April 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Santa Cruz County Bank, a locally owned and operated full-service community bank headquartered in Santa Cruz County, today announced receipt of its ninth consecutive designation of Super Premier performing bank by The Findley Reports, Inc. based upon 2018 financial performance.

For a bank to achieve the Super Premier performance rating it must meet four key performance ratios established by Findley Reports, Inc. Super Premier is the highest rating level established by Findley Reports, Inc. Santa Cruz County Bank met the four criteria at a high level of performance: growth, return on beginning equity, net operating income as a percentage of average assets and loan losses as a percentage of gross loans.

The Findley reports also profiled Santa Cruz County Bank in its March 2019 Newsletter for exceptional performance.

Gary Steven Findley, Editor of The Findley Reports remarked, "One of the true joys in writing the Newsletter and reviewing the performance of all banks in the western United States is recognizing exceptional performance. Santa Cruz County Bank has again been recognized as a Super Premier Performing Bank and remains one of the top performing banks year in and year out."

David Heald, President and CEO of Santa Cruz County Bank commented, "Achieving nine consecutive years as a Super Premier performing bank is a testament to the hard work and focus of our Board of Directors, our management team, and our employees on meeting high service standards and delivering exceptional value for our shareholders."

ABOUT THE FINDLEY REPORTS
For over fifty years The Findley Reports has been recognizing the financial performance of banking institutions in California and the Western United States. The Findley Reports is the reporting service of The Findley Companies. Since 1965, The Findley Companies have earned recognition as being knowledgeable, innovative and effective in implementing solutions to complex situations.

ABOUT SANTA CRUZ COUNTY BANK
Santa Cruz County Bank, founded in 2004, is a top rated, locally owned and operated full-service community bank headquartered in Santa Cruz, California. The bank operates five branches located in Aptos, Capitola, Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley and Watsonville. The bank offers a variety of competitive deposit and lending solutions for businesses and individuals; including business loans, lines of credit, commercial real estate financing, agricultural loans, SBA and USDA government guaranteed loans, credit cards, merchant services, remote deposit capture, mobile and online banking, bill payment, and cash management. The bank's SBA Department has been recognized as a top SBA lender in Santa Cruz County and in the Silicon Valley. Santa Cruz County Bank is a top USDA lender in the state of California.

Santa Cruz County Bank stock is publicly traded on the OTC marketplace under the stock symbol SCZC. Stock purchase orders may be placed through a brokerage firm or one of the Market Makers listed in the Investor Relations section of the bank's website. For more information about Santa Cruz County Bank, visit www.sccountybank.com.

NATIONAL, STATE, AND LOCAL RATINGS AND AWARDS
S&P Global Top 100 Community Banks: Santa Cruz County Bank ranked 35^th in the nation out of nearly 3,000 banks with assets under $3 billion based upon 2018 performance. The Bank has ranked in the Top 100 Community Banks by S&P Global for three consecutive years.

Financial Management Consulting (FMC) Group: Santa Cruz County Bank is the top bank in California in overall performance among 148 banks, and also ranked 1^st in asset quality as well as 1^st (lowest) in non-performing assets for its financial performance in the first, second and third quarters for 2018. The Bank has ranked in FMC's top ten banks in California for the past four years.

Bauer Financial Reports, Inc.: Santa Cruz County Bank is rated 5-star or "Superior" based upon its financial performance.

American Banker Magazine: Santa Cruz County Bank ranked 22^nd out of 633 institutions in American Banker Magazine's "Top Performing 200 Community Banks & Thrifts in the United States" based upon 3-year average return on equity. The Bank ranked 4^th out of 26 California banks. The Bank has ranked in the Top 200 Community Banks in the United States for five consecutive years.

The Bank ranks 8^th in the Silicon Valley for the number of SBA loans lent to Silicon Valley businesses for the SBA's 2018 fiscal year.

RECENT COMMUNITY AWARDS AND RECOGNITION
Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce, 2018 Business of the Year Award.

Farm Bureau of Santa Cruz County, 2018 Al Smith Friend of Agriculture Award, for support of the agricultural industry and providing access to capital.

Second Harvest Food Bank, Platinum Level Award for the Bank's 2018 Holiday Food & Fund Drive.

Voted "Best Bank" by the readers of Good Times for the Best of Santa Cruz County 2019 Awards, for the seventh consecutive year.

Voted "Favorite Bank" by the readers of Santa Cruz Waves Magazine for the 2019 Swellies Awards.

This release may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Such risks and uncertainties may include but are not necessarily limited to fluctuations in interest rates, inflation, government regulations and general economic conditions, and competition within the business areas in which the Bank is conducting its operations, including the real estate market in California and other factors beyond the Bank's control. Such risks and uncertainties could cause results for subsequent interim periods or for the entire year to differ materially from those indicated. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, which reflect management's view only as of the date hereof. The Bank undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

SOURCE Santa Cruz County Bank