BLOOMINGTON, IN – For the nine months ended September 30, 2001, Monroe Bancorp (NASDAQ:MROE) announced net income of $4,373,000, or $0.71 per common share, compared with $4,001,000, or $0.65 per common share, for the same period in 2000, an increase of 9.3 percent.

"We are extremely proud of these results," said President and Chief Executive Officer Mark D. Bradford. "The results are particularly gratifying in that the earnings growth was achieved while the Company was incurring the start-up costs associated with our entry into Hendricks County.

"Our Company is heading into the future with 200 employees who, since the events of September 11, are more inspired than ever before to succeed. We have a proven and effective business plan, a quality loan portfolio, and a focus on financial results that is matched only by our commitment to outstanding customer service," said Mr. Bradford.

Total net loans of $344,606,000 at September 30, 2001 increased 19.0 percent over the September 30, 2000 total of $289,704,000. As of September 30, 2001, only 1.52 percent of the Company's loans were past due 30 days or more, which compares favorably with the 1.89 percent that were past due as of September 30, 2000. The Company's strong loan growth coupled with the maturity of high yielding time deposits helped to increase the net interest income by 6.7 percent over the same period last year.

The Bank's first Hendricks County office, located in Avon, opened in mid-September. The Company's second Hendricks County banking center opened this week in Plainfield. The early results of the Company's expansion strategy are encouraging, with the initiative providing more than $7,200,000 in loans and $3,600,000 in deposits as of October 22, 2001. Both banking centers will specialize in providing commercial and personal banking and investment services to this high-growth area of Central Indiana.

Total assets as of September 30, 2001 were $477,474,000, compared to $434,125,000 at September 30, 2000, a 10.0 percent increase. While the Company's return on equity decreased to 14.89 percent for the first nine months of 2001 from 15.00 percent for the same period of 2000, the return on assets was 1.30 percent compared to 1.25 percent last year. Dividends to shareholders increased 10.0 percent over dividends paid in the third quarter of 2000.

"As we try to understand these unsettling times, we appreciate more and more our relationships with our co-workers, our customers, and the shareholders who continue to show their confidence in us," said Mr. Bradford. "We've found in ourselves a capacity, and a need, to strengthen these relationships as well as our tie with our communities."

The Bank recently provided a 50 percent match for its employees' contributions to the American Red Cross relief efforts. Bill Bennett, the program manager of the Bank's Prime Time Program (a financial and travel club for the Bank's senior citizen customers), teamed up with local photography store Quick Pic to duplicate and make available for purchase a New York City skyline photo that Bennett took on a Prime Time trip in 2000, with 100 percent of the proceeds (more than $8,000) donated to the American Red Cross.

Monroe Bancorp, headquartered in Bloomington, Indiana, is an Indiana bank holding company with 14 ATMs and 15 banking offices in Monroe, Jackson, Lawrence and Hendricks counties. Its wholly owned subsidiary, Monroe Bank, was established in Bloomington, Indiana in 1892, and offers a full range of financial, trust and investment services to its more than 20,000 retail and commercial customers. The Company's common stock is traded on the Nasdaq National Stock Market under the symbol MROE.