Xenith Bankshares, Inc. included in 2012 List of Top Performing Small-Cap Banks and Thrifts in the U.S. by Sandler O'Neill + Partners, L.P.

RICHMOND, Va., Sept. 13, 2012

"We are delighted to be among the Sm-All Stars selected by the Sandler O'Neill research," stated, T. Gaylon Layfield, III, President and Chief Executive Officer. "For a relatively young bank, this kind of recognition of our progress is exciting for our shareholders, customers, and employees."

In developing its list of Sm-All Stars, Sandler O'Neill evaluated 461 publicly traded banks with a market capitalization of less than $2 billion and placed a $25 million minimum market capitalization cutoff to incorporate a liquidity constraint.  In announcing the Sm-All Stars, Sandler O'Neill's Director of Research Mark Fitzgibbon and Associate Director Casey Orr stated that their "screening methodology eliminated 95% of the institutions being evaluated and the performance metrics of the remaining 25 institutions are exceptional with the Class of 2012 delivering bottom line results that are markedly better than the industry as a whole."   

Companies were evaluated based on absolute performance in eight financial variables: growth in EPS, loans and deposits, return on average equity, nonperforming assets (excluding accruing Troubled Debt Restructurings) to loans plus OREO ratio, net charge-off ratio, reserves to nonperforming assets ratio and Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio. To earn Sm-All Star status, the banks and thrifts needed to be at or above the peer median for the first seven metrics surveyed, plus be considered "Well Capitalized" per the Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio.

Profile:  Xenith Bankshares, Inc. is the holding company for Xenith Bank.  Xenith Bank is a full-service, locally-managed commercial bank, specifically targeting the banking needs of middle market and small businesses, local real estate developers and investors, private banking clients, and select retail banking clients.  As of June 30, 2012, the Company had total assets of $523.6 million and total deposits of $419.3 million.  Xenith Bank's target markets are the Washington, DC-MD-VA-WV, Richmond-Petersburg, VA, and the Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News, VA-NC metropolitan statistical areas.  The Company is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia and currently has six branch locations in Tysons Corner, Richmond and Suffolk, Virginia.  Xenith Bankshares common stock trades on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol "XBKS."

For more information about Xenith Bankshares and Xenith Bank, visit our website: https://www.xenithbank.com/.

All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release are forward-looking statements.  Forward-looking statements made in this press release reflect beliefs, assumptions and expectations of future events or results, taking into account the information currently available to Xenith Bankshares, Inc.  These beliefs, assumptions and expectations may change as a result of many possible events, circumstances or factors, not all of which are currently known to Xenith Bankshares.  If a change occurs, Xenith Bankshares' business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects may vary materially from those expressed in, or implied by, the forward-looking statements.  Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.  Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by these forward-looking statements include the risks discussed in Xenith Bankshares' public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including those outlined in Part I, Item 1A, "Risk Factors" of Xenith Bankshares' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011.  Except as required by applicable law or regulations, Xenith Bankshares does not undertake, and specifically disclaims any obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statement.