ECB Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE Amex: ECBE) ("ECB" or the "Company") announced today that A. Dwight Utz, President/CEO and Thomas M. Crowder, EVP/CFO will be presenting at the 17th Annual Gulf South Bank Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana being held May 14 -May 16, 2012.

Mr. Utz and Mr. Crowder are scheduled to present on Monday, May 14th at 3:20 p.m. CDT (4:20 p.m. EDT). The presentation and audio webcast will be available through ECB's website at www.MyECB.com and clicking the Investor Relations link at the bottom of the home page.

About ECB Bancorp, Inc.

ECB Bancorp, Inc. is a bank holding company, headquartered in Engelhard, North Carolina, whose wholly-owned subsidiary, The East Carolina Bank, is a state-chartered, independent community bank insured by the FDIC. The Bank has 25 branch offices in eastern North Carolina stretching from the Virginia to South Carolina state lines east of Interstate 95. ECB offers a full range of financial services including Mortgages, Agricultural Banking and Wealth Management services. The Company's common stock is listed on NYSE Amex under the symbol "ECBE". More information can be obtained by visiting ECB's web site at www.myecb.com.

"Safe Harbor Statement" Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

Statements in this Press Release relating to plans, strategies, economic performance and trends, projections of results of specific activities or investments, expectations or beliefs

about future events or results, and other statements that are not descriptions of historical facts, may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking information is inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors, which include, but are not limited to, risk factors discussed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and in other documents filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. Forward-looking statements may be identified by terms such as "may", "will", "should", "could", "expects", "plans", "intends", "anticipates", "feels", "believes", "estimates", "predicts", "forecasts", "potential" or "continue", or similar terms or the negative of these terms, or other statements concerning opinions or judgments of the Company's management about future events. Factors that could influence the accuracy of such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: pressures on the Company's earnings, capital and liquidity resulting from current and future conditions in the credit and equity markets; the financial success or changing strategies of the Company's customers; actions of government regulators or changes in laws, regulations or accounting standards that adversely affect our business; changes in the interest rate environment and the level of market interest rates that reduce our net interest margins and/or the values of loans we make and securities we hold; weather and similar conditions, particularly the effect of hurricanes on the Company's banking and operations facilities and on the Company's customers and the communities in which it does business; continued or unexpected increases in credit losses in the Company's loan portfolio; continued adverse conditions in general economic conditions and real estate values in our banking market (particularly as those conditions affect our loan portfolio, the abilities of our borrowers to repay their loans, and the values of loan collateral); and other developments or changes in our business that we do not expect. Factors that could influence the accuracy of statements in this report regarding completion of the conversion to the new system and benefits that we will gain, including the recoupment of recognized expense, include, but are not limited to, the possibility that we will encounter (a) unexpected delays in, costs associated with, or other problems in the course of, completion of our conversion to the new system, (b) unexpected compatibility issues associated with the new system, or (c) changes in our business or other factors which offset expected costs savings. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. All forward-looking statements attributable to the Company are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements in this paragraph. The Company has no obligation, and does not intend, to update these forward-looking statements.

ECB Bancorp, Inc.
A. Dwight Utz, 252-925-5509
President/CEO
Fax: 252-925-8491
or
Thomas M. Crowder, 252-925-5520
EVP/CFO