EXHIBIT 99.1

February 18, 2011

CONTACT: ECB Bancorp, Inc.

Thomas M. Crowder, Chief Financial Officer

(252) 925-5520

(252) 925-8491 facsimile

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ECB Bancorp, Inc. Reports 2010 Annual and Fourth Quarter Results

ENGELHARD, N.C.-ECB Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECBE) (“ECB” or the “Company”) today announced its results for the twelve months and three months ended December 31, 2010.

2010 Annual and Fourth Quarter Financial Highlights

For the twelve months ended December 31, 2010, net income was $860,000, a decrease of (42.8%) compared to net income for the twelve months ended December 31, 2009 of $1,502,000. After adjusting for $1,063,000 in preferred stock dividends and accretion of warrant discount, the net loss attributable to common shareholders for the twelve months ended December 31, 2010 was ($203,000) or ($0.07) per diluted share compared to net income of $499,000 or $0.18 per diluted share for the year 2009. As we previously reported, during the fourth quarter of 2010 ECB Bancorp recognized a nonrecurring one-time expense of $1,141,000 for early termination fees payable on certain multi-year support and maintenance contracts in connection with our conversion of East Carolina Bank’s core processing system, scheduled for May 2011. This expense impacted and contributed to the annual and three months ended December 31, 2010 operating loss. Due to the unique, nonrecurring nature of this expense, we believe normalizing earnings to adjust for the impact of this expense, thus presenting on a non-GAAP basis, provides useful comparative information. After backing out the nonrecurring expense of $1,141,000, the comparative annual non-GAAP pre-tax income for 2010 would have been $1,235,000 versus the $1,145,000 for year ending 2009, an improvement of $90,000 or 7.8% in 2010 over 2009.

For the three months ended December 31, 2010, the net loss totaled ($1,124,000), or a (25.3%) increase in net loss from the ($897,000) in net loss for the three months ended December 31, 2009. After adjusting for $266,000 in preferred stock dividends and the accretion of warrant discount, the net loss charged to common shareholders for the three months ended December 31, 2010 was ($1,390,000) or ($0.49) per diluted share, an increase in net loss of (19.6%) compared to the loss of ($1,162,000) or ($0.41) per diluted share for the three months ended December 31, 2009. As was discussed previously, after backing out the nonrecurring expense of $1,141,000 in the fourth quarter, the comparative non-GAAP pre-tax loss for the three months ending December 31, 2010 would have been ($928,000) versus the ($1,750,000) for the same ending period in 2009, an improvement of $822,000 or 47.0%.

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In the three months ending December 31, 2010 ECB Bancorp recognized $2,037,000 in net gains from sales in the investment portfolio versus $1,533,000 of recognized net gains in the same period in 2009. These gains resulted from the continued repositioning of the investment portfolio to reduce its exposure to the municipal bond sector of our portfolio. As with the nonrecurring expense, we believe it provides useful comparative information to back out the securities gains as well as the nonrecurring expense for the three month period ending December 31, 2010. The net result of backing out the nonrecurring expense of $1,141,000 and the securities gains of $2,037,000 for the three month period ending December 31, 2010 is a non-GAAP pre-tax loss of ($2,965,000) versus a non-GAAP pre-tax loss of ($3,283,000) for the same period in 2009 after backing out the security gains of $1,533,000 for the same period in 2009. This is an operating improvement of $318,000.

Other Financial Highlights include:

A. Dwight Utz, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated: “The special expense we recognized in the fourth quarter of $1,141,000 negatively affected our year end results. The benefits we will gain beginning in May of 2011 with our new core processing capacity we believe will recoup most of the recognized expense over time but more importantly will substantially assist us in managing our growth in coming years. We have strived to assess the proper balance of credit risk and reserves, as have most of the banks in our market. We believe ECB Bancorp is well positioned to grow both organically and perhaps through acquisition, based on our current reserves and the bank’s stability.”

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Thomas M. Crowder, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, stated: “We began to see in the fourth quarter of 2010 a trend toward higher interest rates, particularly in the longer maturities. We will continue to manage our balance sheet to mitigate the impact of a rising rate environment and its potential impact on our present value of equity.”

Mr. Utz concluded: “The fourth quarter saw ECB Bancorp positioning itself to move into 2011 with the personnel, financial resources, technological infrastructure and credit quality necessary to begin the process of moving back into a more normalized and profitable posture, which will allow us to look to a future focused on growth.”

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 provides a full range of financial services through its 25 offices covering eastern North Carolina from Currituck to Ocean Isle Beach and Greenville to Hatteras. The Bank also provides mortgages, insurance services through the Bank’s licensed agents, and investment and brokerage services offered through a third-party broker-dealer. The Company’s common stock is listed on The Nasdaq Global Market 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

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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.

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ECB BANCORP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARY

Consolidated Balance Sheets

December 31, 2010 and 2009

(Dollars in thousands, except per share data)

ECB BANCORP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARY

Consolidated Income Statements

For the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2010 and 2009

(Dollars in thousands, except per share data)

ECB Bancorp, Inc.

Supplemental Quarterly Financial Data (Unaudited)

(Dollars in thousands, except per share data)