Wilshire Bancorp, Inc (WIBC)

[Enterprising Investor]

WIBC Announces Repurchase of Preferred Shares From UST (3/29/12)

LOS ANGELES, March 29, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wilshire Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq:WIBC), the holding company for Wilshire State Bank, announced today that it has agreed to repurchase 60,000 shares of preferred stock from the U.S. Department of the Treasury at a price of $943.51 per share through a modified Dutch auction process. Wilshire Bancorp had previously sold 62,158 shares of preferred stock to the Treasury Department as part of the Capital Purchase Program under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). The remaining 2,158 preferred shares of Wilshire Bancorp held by the Treasury Department will be purchased by unrelated third-parties.

"The repurchase of virtually all of the preferred shares issued under the TARP program is a major milestone for Wilshire Bancorp that underscores the significant progress we have made over the past year," said Jae Whan (J.W.) Yoo, President and CEO of Wilshire Bancorp. "We are very pleased that our regulators granted us permission to bid for our preferred shares in this auction. Following the repurchase of these shares, we believe we will continue to have a strong capital position."

COMPANY INFORMATION

Headquartered in Los Angeles, Wilshire State Bank operates 24 branch offices in California, Texas, New Jersey and New York, and eight loan production offices in Dallas and Houston, TX, Atlanta, GA, Aurora, CO, Annandale, VA, Fort Lee, NJ, Newark, CA, and Bellevue, WA, and is an SBA preferred lender nationwide. Wilshire State Bank is a community bank with a focus on commercial real estate lending and general commercial banking, with its primary market encompassing the multi-ethnic populations of the Los Angeles Metropolitan area.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Statements concerning future performance, events, or any other guidance on future periods constitute forward-looking statements that are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that might cause actual results to differ materially from stated expectations. Specific factors include, but are not limited to, loan production and sales, credit quality, the ability to expand net interest margin, the ability to continue to attract low-cost deposits, success of expansion efforts, competition in the marketplace and general economic conditions. Any financial information contained in this release should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes included in Wilshire Bancorp's most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as they may be amended from time to time. Results of operations for the most recent quarter are not necessarily indicative of operating results for any future periods. Any projections in this release are based on limited information currently available to management and are subject to change. The information in this press release speaks only as of the date of this release and Wilshire Bancorp specifically disclaims any duty to update the information in this press release. Additional information on these and other factors that could affect financial results are included in filings by Wilshire Bancorp with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

CONTACT:
Alex Ko, EVP & CFO
[phone]
www.wilshirebank.com

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