Exhibit 99.1


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT:	Frank W. Wingate
April 20, 2004		President and
		Chief Executive Officer
		(864) 297-6333

NEW COMMERCE BANCORP REPORTS FIRST QUARTER RESULTS

GREENVILLE, SC — New Commerce BanCorp (OTC Bulletin Board: NCBS.OB), parent company of New Commerce Bank, reported first quarter 2004 net income of $23,676, or $0.02 per diluted share, compared to net income of $6,353 or $0.01 per diluted share, for the same period in 2003.

Assets totaled $90.3 million at March 31, 2004 and represented a $28.1 million increase from March 31, 2003. The loan portfolio increased $18.4 million to $61.1 million from March 31, 2003 and represented 68% of total assets. There were no non-performing loans as of the end of the quarter. Total deposits were $76.4 million at March 31, 2004, a $28.3 million increase from the first quarter of 2003.

New Commerce Bank has two offices serving individual and business clients in the Golden Strip area of Greenville County. The main office is located on East Butler Road at I-385 and the Five Forks office is located on Woodruff Road at Batesville Road in Simpsonville.

Certain statements in this news release contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, such as statements relating to future growth and expectations, and are thus prospective. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors, such as a downturn in the economy, greater than expected non interest expenses or excessive loan losses which could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

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NEW COMMERCE BANCORP AND SUBSIDIARY
CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
(Dollars in thousands, except per share data)
(Unaudited)

STATEMENT OF INCOME DATA:

	Three Months Ended
	March 31,
	2004		2003
Net interest income	$	670	$	523
Provision for loan losses		63		44
Noninterest income		122		101
Noninterest expense		691		570
Income before income tax expense		38		10
Income tax expense		14		4
Net income		24		6
Basic earnings per share	$	0.02	$	0.01
Diluted earnings per share	$	0.02	$	0.01
Weighted average shares outstanding:
Basic		1,000,000		1,000,000
Diluted		1,045,003		1,017,977

BALANCE SHEET DATA:

	March 31,
	2004		2003
Total assets	$	90,332	$	62,245
Total earning assets		83,110		55,647
Gross loans		61,092		42,669
Allowance for loan losses		672		534
Investment securities		15,114		12,863
Total deposits		76,401		48,129
Total interest-bearing deposits		62,471		41,037
Other borrowings		4,500		4,950
Total liabilities		81,537		53,460
Shareholders' equity		8,796		8,785
Book value per share	$	8.80	$	8.79

SELECTED RATIOS:

	March 31,
	2004			2003
Net interest margin		3	.48%		3	.82%
Allowance for loan losses as
a percentage of gross loans		1	.10%		1	.25%
Gross loans to deposits		79	.96%		88	.65%
Non-performing loans to gross loans		0	.00%		0	.00%
Net charge-offs (recoveries) to
average loans		0	.20%		0	.01%
Capital ratios (Bank only):
Tier 1 capital (to risk-weighted assets)		10	.00%		13	.68%
Total capital (to risk-weighted assets)		10	.94%		14	.71%
Leverage ratio (to average assets)		8	.78%		11	.90%

NEW COMMERCE BANCORP AND SUBSIDIARY CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS (Dollars in thousands, except per share data)(Unaudited)

STATEMENT OF INCOME DATA:

BALANCE SHEET DATA:

SELECTED RATIOS:

NEW COMMERCE BANCORP AND SUBSIDIARY
CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
(Dollars in thousands, except per share data)
(Unaudited)

NEW COMMERCE BANCORP 8-K