Two press releases issued today by New Century Financial Corporation (NYSE: NEW), a real estate investment trust (REIT). The first of which denotes reduced earnings for the 3rd quarter of 2006 and the second announces lower origination volume in October 2006 vs. October 2005.

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First Release
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New Century Bancorp, Inc. (the “Company”) NCBC, the holding company for New Century Bank and New Century Bank South, reported net income for the quarter ended September 30, 2006 of $1.1 million compared to $812,000 for the same period in 2005. Basic and diluted earnings per share for third quarter 2006 were $0.20 and $0.19, respectively, compared to basic and diluted earnings per share for third quarter 2005 of $0.19 and $0.18, respectively. These results, in a prior year quarter to current year quarter comparison, were impacted by systems conversion and other merger-related expenses of $308,000 incurred for the acquisition of Progressive State Bank in the third quarter of 2006. In addition, the earnings per share calculation was impacted by our successful offering of New Century Bancorp stock during the second quarter of 2006, which resulted in the issuance of 1,150,000 additional shares.

For the nine month period ended September 30, 2006, net income for the Company was $3.4 million, compared to $2.6 million for the same period in 2005, an increase of 31%. Basic and diluted earnings per share for the first nine months of 2006 were $0.74 and $0.70, respectively, compared to basic and diluted earnings per share for the first nine months of 2005 of $0.62 and $0.58, respectively.

As of September 30, 2006, the Company reported total assets of $544.0 million compared to $401.5 million at September 30, 2005, an increase of 35%. The aforementioned acquisition of Progressive State Bank, formerly headquartered in Lumberton, NC, added approximately $64 million in assets to the Company in July, 2006, before purchase accounting adjustments.

Total deposits were $452.0 million and total loans were $398.9 million at the end of third quarter 2006, compared to total deposits of $336.2 million and total loans of $320.5 million as of the end of third quarter 2005, increases of 34% and 24%, respectively.

“On behalf of the Board of Directors and our management team, I am pleased to report these results of operations,” said John Q. Shaw, president and CEO. “The former Progressive State Bank branches became offices of New Century Bank South on July 13, 2006. We have been well-received in the communities of Lumberton, Raeford, Pembroke, and Dublin-all in North Carolina-and look forward to continued growth and success in these markets. Due to the acquisition, results for the quarter included $308,000 in pre-tax merger- related expenses. These expenses were anticipated.

“I am pleased to report that our net interest margin, an important component of earnings growth, increased from 3.95% at the end of third quarter 2005 to 4.36% at the end of third quarter 2006. This is quite an accomplishment considering many banks are experiencing margin compression.

“As a hallmark of a well-managed community bank, management continues to monitor the credit quality of the bank. During the third quarter, charge-offs increased to 33 basis points as a large, commercial watch list was appropriately reduced. This effectively reduced the ALLL to 1.49% of total loans. Management believes that the allowance is adequate to absorb inherent losses in the loan portfolio.

“We are excited about what has taken place this quarter and look forward to building upon this in the future.”

New Century Bank has offices in Dunn, Clinton, Goldsboro, and Lillington; and, New Century Bank South has offices in Fayetteville, Lumberton, Pembroke, Raeford, and Dublin – all in North Carolina.

The information as of and for the quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2006, as presented is unaudited. This news release contains forward- looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, without limitation, (i) statements regarding certain of our goals and expectations with respect to earnings, earnings per share, revenue, expenses and the growth rate in such items, as well as other measures of economic performance, including statements relating to estimates of credit quality trends, and (ii) statements preceded by, followed by or that include the words “may,” “could,” “should,” “would,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “projects,” “outlook” or similar expressions. The actual results might differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements for various reasons, including, but not limited to, our ability to manage growth, our limited operating history, substantial changes in financial markets, regulatory changes, changes in interest rates, loss of deposits and loan demand to other savings and financial institutions, and changes in real estate values and the real estate market. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to materially differ from those in the forward-looking statements is contained in the Company’s SEC filings, including its periodic reports under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, copies of which are available upon request from the Company.

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Second Release
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IRVINE, Calif., Nov. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — New Century Financial Corporation (NYSE: NEW), a real estate investment trust (REIT) and one of the nation’s premier mortgage finance companies, today announced that October 2006 total mortgage loan production was $5.0 billion. This represents a 5.7 percent decrease compared with $5.3 billion in October 2005 and a 6.4 percent increase compared with $4.7 billion in September 2006. Additionally, the weighted average coupon for the company’s non-prime
production was 8.4 percent in October 2006.

Mortgage Loan Production Data (in billions)
October 2006 October 2005
%
Wholesale Retail Total Wholesale Retail Total Change

Non-Prime $3.9 0.4 4.3 $3.8 0.6 4.4 -2.3%
Prime and Alt-A 0.3 0.4 0.7 0.4 0.5 0.9 -22.2%
Total $4.2 0.8 5.0 $4.2 1.1 5.3 -5.7%

4Q06 Quarter-to-Date 4Q05 Quarter-to-Date
%
Wholesale Retail Total Wholesale Retail Total Change

Non-Prime $3.9 0.4 4.3 $3.8 0.6 4.4 -2.3%
Prime and Alt-A 0.3 0.4 0.7 0.4 0.5 0.9 -22.2%
Total $4.2 0.8 5.0 $4.2 1.1 5.3 -5.7%

2006 Year-to-Date 2005 Year-to-Date
%
Wholesale Retail Total Wholesale Retail Total Change

Non-Prime $40.2 3.5 43.7 $39.5 4.4 43.9 -0.5%
Prime and Alt-A 2.6 4.1 6.7 0.8 1.0 1.8 N/A
Total $42.8 7.6 50.4 $40.3 5.4 45.7 10.3%