North Valley Bancorp Authorizes Stock Repurchase Program

REDDING, CA--(Marketwired - Jun 26, 2013) - North Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ: NOVB), the bank holding company of North Valley Bank, based in Redding, California (the "Company"), today announced that its Board of Directors has authorized the repurchase of up to 5% of the Company's outstanding common shares, or approximately 340,000 shares. Approximately 6,835,000 shares of common stock are currently outstanding.

The repurchases will be made from time to time by the Company in the open market, or privately negotiated transactions, as conditions allow. All open market transactions will be structured to comply with Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 10b-18 and all shares repurchased under this program will be retired. The number, price and timing of the repurchases shall be at the Company's sole discretion and the program may be re-evaluated depending on market conditions, liquidity needs or other factors. The Board of Directors, based on such re-evaluations, may suspend, terminate, modify or cancel the program at any time without notice.

"We are pleased to announce our stock repurchase plan as it is an effective use of our capital to enhance shareholder value," commented Michael J. Cushman, President & CEO.

North Valley Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Redding, California. Its subsidiary, North Valley Bank ("NVB"), operates twenty-two commercial banking offices in Shasta, Humboldt, Del Norte, Mendocino, Yolo, Sonoma, Placer and Trinity Counties in Northern California, including two in-store supermarket branches and six Business Banking Centers. North Valley Bancorp, through NVB, offers a wide range of consumer and business banking deposit products and services including internet banking and cash management services. In addition to these depository services, NVB engages in a full complement of lending activities including consumer, commercial and real estate loans. Additionally, NVB has SBA Preferred Lender status and provides investment services to its customers. Visit the Company's website address at www.novb.com for more information.

Cautionary Statement: This release contains certain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated herein. Management's assumptions and projections are based on their anticipation of future events and actual performance may differ materially from those projected. Risks and uncertainties which could impact future financial performance include, among others, (a) competitive pressures in the banking industry; (b) changes in the interest rate environment; (c) general economic conditions, either nationally, regionally or locally, including fluctuations in real estate values; (d) changes in the regulatory environment; (e) changes in business conditions or the securities markets and inflation; (f) possible shortages of gas and electricity at utility companies operating in the State of California, and (g) the effects of terrorism, including the events of September 11, 2001, and thereafter, and the conduct of the war on terrorism by the United States and its allies. Therefore, the information set forth herein, together with other information contained in the periodic reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, should be carefully considered when evaluating the business prospects of the Company. North Valley Bancorp undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release, except as required by law.