Southwest Community Bancorp in Carlsbad, the holding company for Southwest Community Bank, declared a 5-cent-per-share quarterly cash dividend to be paid Oct. 20 to shareholders of record on Oct. 5. It is the company's first.

"Initiating a cash dividend demonstrates our continued confidence in Southwest's long-term prospects," saya Frank J. Mercardante, CEO. "We believe it's important to share our success with our shareholders and paying cash dividends and consistently growing profits are among the best methods of doing so. In addition, the current taxation policy for corporate dividend payments make cash payouts particularly appealing for investors."

The company reported record profits, strong loan and deposit growth and excellent net interest margin expansion in July. Excluding income from discontinued operations, income from continuing operations more than doubled to $2.1 million in the second quarter, or 49 cents per share, compared to $1 million, or 27 cents per share in the second quarter of 2004.