April 23, 2003

Lisa Capps
Investor Relations
Westcorp
Phone: (949) 727-1002
Email: Investor_Relations@Westcorpinc.com

Westcorp Reports Record First Quarter Net Income

• Net income rose 40% to a record $23.5 million for the quarter

• Earnings per share increased 30% to $0.60 for the quarter

• Total revenues grew 22% to $194 million for the quarter

• Automobile delinquencies declined 109 basis points to 2.41% at end of the quarter

• Remaining off balance sheet trusts were re-consolidated

Irvine, CA: Westcorp (NYSE:WES) today reported that net income increased 40% to a record $23.5 million for the first quarter of 2003 compared with $16.9 million for the same period a year ago. Earnings per diluted share rose 30% to $0.60 for the first quarter of 2003 compared with $0.46 for the same period a year earlier.

“Our record earnings represent the culmination of eliminating off balance sheet accounting as well as our ability to effectively manage our business through a difficult business environment,” said Tom Wolfe, President of Westcorp. “Our earnings results are no longer based on estimated future cash flows from securitization transactions but rather actual cash flows earned over the life of the automobile contracts that we originate.”

Annualized credit loss experience for the first quarter increased 10 basis points to 2.86% of average managed automobile contracts compared with 2.76% for the same period a year ago. The percentage of outstanding contracts 30 days or more delinquent improved 109 basis points to 2.41% at March 31, 2003 compared with 3.50% at December 31, 2002. The allowance for credit losses as a percentage of owned contracts outstanding was 2.8% at March 31, 2003 compared with 2.9% at December 31, 2002.

“Our credit loss experience this quarter reflects continued general weakness in the economy and depressed wholesale used car prices,” said Mr. Wolfe. “However, the improvement in the percentage of automobile contracts delinquent, the percentage of repossessed automobiles in inventory and our shift to a higher concentration of prime credit quality originations are key indicators that credit trends will improve during the next few quarters.”

Automobile contract purchases totaled $1.4 billion for the first quarter of 2003, a 7% increase from the same period a year earlier. As a result of higher contract originations, the Company’s portfolio of managed automobile contracts reached $9.7 billion at March 31, 2003, up from $9.4 billion at December 31, 2002.

Total revenues grew 22% for the three months ended March 31, 2003 to $194 million compared with $159 million for the same period a year earlier.

Net interest income increased 17% to $166 million for the three months ended March 31, 2003 compared with $142 million for the same period a year ago. Net interest margin for the three months ended March 31, 2003 was 5.02% compared with 5.57% for the same period a year earlier. Net interest income increased as more automobile contracts were held on the balance sheet offset by narrower net interest margins as the Company continues to shift its portfolio to a higher percentage of prime credit quality automobile contracts.

Total deposits grew 11% or $213 million to $2.1 billion at March 31, 2003 compared with $1.9 billion after the Company’s sale of its Northern California retail banking offices in September 2002 with the growth almost entirely in transaction accounts. During the quarter, the Company opened its first new Southern California retail banking office and expects to open three more locations during the remainder of the year.

Total noninterest income, which includes primarily automobile servicing related fee income, improved 62% to $27.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2003 compared with $17.2 million for the same period a year earlier. This improvement was primarily the result of the elimination of non-cash amortization of residual interests and an increase in total managed automobile contracts.

Noninterest expense totaled $68.4 million or 35% of total revenues for the first quarter of 2003 compared with $60.9 million or 38% for the same period a year ago. The increase in noninterest expense was primarily the result of higher collection related costs.

Provision for credit losses totaled $79.9 million for the three months ended March 31, 2003 compared with $65.7 million for the same period a year ago. The increase is primarily the result of higher credit loss experience as well as setting aside allowance for credit losses for re-consolidated automobile contracts from securitization trusts formerly treated as off balance sheet transactions.

Effective January 1, 2003, the Company re-consolidated the remaining assets of trusts for all securitization transactions that were initially treated as sales for accounting purposes. There was no gain or loss recorded as a result of this re-consolidation. The re-consolidation of these assets represents the final step taken by the Company to eliminate gain on sale accounting.

Earnings Conference Call

Westcorp, along with its subsidiary WFS Financial, will host a conference call for analysts and investors at 9:00 a.m. (PDT) on Thursday, April 24, 2003. As part of this conference call, the Company’s management will discuss earnings results for the quarter. For a live Internet broadcast of this conference call, please go to the Company’s Web site at http://www.westcorpinc.com to register, download, and install any necessary audio software. For those who cannot listen to the live broadcast, a replay will be available shortly after the call.

Westcorp is a financial services holding company whose principal subsidiaries are WFS Financial Inc and Western Financial Bank. Westcorp is a publicly owned company whose common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol WES.

Westcorp, through its subsidiary, WFS, is one of the nation’s largest independent automobile finance companies. WFS specializes in originating, securitizing, and servicing new and pre-owned prime and non-prime credit quality automobile contracts through its nationwide relationships with automobile dealers. Information about WFS can be found at its Web site at http://www.wfsfinancial.com.

Westcorp, through its subsidiary, Western Financial Bank, operates 18 retail bank branches and provides commercial banking services in Southern California. Information on the products and services offered by the Bank can be found at its Web site at http://www.wfb.com.

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements relate to analyses and other information, which are based on forecasts of future results and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. These statements also relate to the Company’s future prospects, developments and business strategies. These statements are subject to uncertainties and factors relating to the Company’s operations and business environment, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond its control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by these forward-looking statements.

These forward-looking statements are identified by use of terms and phrases such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “predict,” “project,” “will,” and similar terms and phrases, including references to assumptions.

The following factors are among those that may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements:

• Changes in general economic and business conditions;

• Interest rate fluctuations;

• The Company’s financial condition and liquidity, as well as future cash flow earnings;

• Competition;

• The level of operating expenses;

• The effect of new laws, regulations, court decisions or significant litigation;

• The availability of sources of funding;

• The level of chargeoffs on the automobile contracts that we originate; and

• Other significant unexpected events.

A further list of these risks, uncertainties and other matters can be found in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. If one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if underlying assumptions prove incorrect, the Company’s actual results may vary materially from those expected, estimated or projected. The information contained in this press release is as of April 23, 2003. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.

WESTCORP AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME
(UNAUDITED)

			Three Months Ended March 31,
			2003		2002
			(Dollars in thousands, except
			share and per share amounts)
Interest income:
	Loans, including fees		$	281,288	$	232,912
	Mortgage-backed securities and other			26,214		29,284
		TOTAL INTEREST INCOME		307,502		262,196
Interest expense:
	Deposits			17,556		21,010
	Notes payable on automobile secured financing			110,799		92,018
	Other			12,857		7,042
		TOTAL INTEREST EXPENSE		141,212		120,070
NET INTEREST INCOME				166,290		142,126
Provision for credit losses				79,884		65,698
NET INTEREST INCOME AFTER PROVISION FOR CREDIT LOSSES				86,406		76,428
Noninterest income:
	Automobile lending			20,949		11,674
	Other			6,804		5,485
		TOTAL NONINTEREST INCOME		27,753		17,159
Noninterest expense:
	Salaries and associate benefits			39,455		34,871
	Credit and collections			9,546		8,077
	Data processing			4,568		4,580
	Other			14,870		13,331
		TOTAL NONINTEREST EXPENSE		68,439		60,859
INCOME BEFORE INCOME TAX				45,720		32,728
Income tax				18,226		12,964
INCOME BEFORE MINORITY INTEREST				27,494		19,764
Minority interest in earnings of subsidiaries				3,945		2,911
NET INCOME			$	23,549	$	16,853
Net income per common share:
	Basic		$	0.60	$	0.46
	Diluted		$	0.60	$	0.46
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding:
	Basic			39,202,850		36,791,744
	Diluted			39,452,915		36,980,861

WESTCORP AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION
(UNAUDITED)

			March 31, 2003			December 31, 2002
			(Dollars in thousands)
ASSETS
Cash and due from banks			$	93,202		$	84,215
Investment securities available for sale				7,037			10,425
Mortgage-backed securities available for sale				2,790,310			2,649,657
Loans receivable				10,180,166			9,443,901
Allowance for credit losses				(281,030	)		(269,352	)
	Loans receivable, net			9,899,136			9,174,549
Amounts due from trusts							101,473
Premises and equipment, net				76,069			78,664
Other				303,707			311,893
		TOTAL ASSETS	$	13,169,461		$	12,410,876
LIABILITIES
Deposits			$	2,084,725		$	1,974,984
Notes payable on automobile secured financing				9,265,725			8,422,915
Securities sold under agreements to repurchase				226,783			276,600
Federal Home Loan Bank advances				282,742			336,275
Amounts held on behalf of trustee							177,642
Subordinated debentures				397,406			400,561
Other				168,489			107,036
		TOTAL LIABILITIES		12,425,870			11,696,013
Minority interest				105,798			101,666
SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Common stock, (par value $1.00 per share; authorized 65,000,000 shares; issued and outstanding 39,204,709 shares at March 31, 2003 and 39,200,474 shares at December 31, 2002)				39,205			39,200
Paid-in capital				350,122			350,018
Retained earnings				344,374			325,529
Accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of tax				(95,908	)		(101,550	)
		TOTAL SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY		637,793			613,197
		TOTAL LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY	$	13,169,461		$	12,410,876

WESTCORP AND SUBSIDIARIES
OTHER SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
(UNAUDITED)
(Dollars in thousands)

		Three Months Ended
		March 31,
		2003			2002
LOAN ORIGINATIONS
Consumer (1)		$	1,353,928		$	1,266,189
Real estate			4,314			9,139
Commercial			96,684			61,268
	Total	$	1,454,926		$	1,336,596
NET INTEREST MARGIN
Yield on interest-earning assets			9.71	%		10.73	%
Cost of interest-bearing liabilities			4.69			5.16
	Interest margin		5.02	%		5.57	%

MANAGED AUTOMOBILE DELINQUENCY      AND REPOSSESSIONS
			March 31, 2003					December 31, 2002
			Amount		Percent			Amount		Percent
	Contracts managed at end of period		$	9,650,229				$	9,389,974
	Period of delinquency
		30-59 days	$	165,052		1.71	%	$	238,204		2.54	%
		60 days or more		67,065		0.70			90,291		0.96
	Total contracts delinquent		$	232,117		2.41	%	$	328,495		3.50	%
	Total repossessions		$	10,966		0.11	%	$	16,433		0.18	%

MANAGED AUTOMOBILE CONTRACTS      LOSS EXPERIENCE
	Three Months Ended
	March 31,
	2003			2002
Contracts managed at end of period	$	9,650,229		$	8,405,634
Average contracts managed during the period	$	9,533,314		$	8,273,297
Gross chargeoffs	$	90,779		$	79,792
Recoveries		22,598			22,633
Net chargeoffs	$	68,181		$	57,159
Net chargeoffs as a percentage of average managed contracts outstanding during period		2.86	%		2.76	%

		March 31,		December 31,
		2003		2002
MANAGED PORTFOLIO
Consumer (1)		$	9,650,352	$	9,390,114
Real estate			225,405		242,200
Commercial			147,967		147,375
	Total	$	10,023,724	$	9,779,689

(1) Includes automobile contracts and other consumer loans.

WESTCORP AND SUBSIDIARIES
CUMULATIVE STATIC POOL LOSS CURVES (UNAUDITED)
AT MARCH 31, 2003

The following table sets forth the cumulative static pool losses by month for all outstanding public securitized pools:

Period (1)	1998-C			1999-A			1999-B			1999-C			2000-A			2000-B			2000-C			2000-D
1		0.00	%		0.00	%		0.00	%		0.00	%		0.00	%		0.00	%		0.00	%		0.00	%
2		0.04	%		0.04	%		0.04	%		0.02	%		0.03	%		0.02	%		0.04	%		0.04	%
3		0.11	%		0.11	%		0.11	%		0.10	%		0.10	%		0.09	%		0.13	%		0.11	%
4		0.23	%		0.20	%		0.26	%		0.25	%		0.20	%		0.24	%		0.27	%		0.24	%
5		0.39	%		0.33	%		0.47	%		0.40	%		0.36	%		0.39	%		0.46	%		0.39	%
6		0.50	%		0.46	%		0.66	%		0.56	%		0.55	%		0.59	%		0.65	%		0.54	%
7		0.61	%		0.62	%		0.87	%		0.71	%		0.71	%		0.78	%		0.81	%		0.74	%
8		0.75	%		0.76	%		1.00	%		0.86	%		0.91	%		0.99	%		0.93	%		0.93	%
9		0.86	%		0.92	%		1.13	%		1.01	%		1.10	%		1.17	%		1.07	%		1.13	%
10		1.00	%		1.11	%		1.24	%		1.14	%		1.27	%		1.33	%		1.24	%		1.34	%
11		1.17	%		1.30	%		1.35	%		1.34	%		1.45	%		1.44	%		1.41	%		1.50	%
12		1.32	%		1.47	%		1.44	%		1.52	%		1.58	%		1.57	%		1.62	%		1.74	%
13		1.48	%		1.61	%		1.58	%		1.74	%		1.73	%		1.72	%		1.86	%		1.95	%
14		1.66	%		1.73	%		1.74	%		1.94	%		1.85	%		1.86	%		2.04	%		2.21	%
15		1.79	%		1.81	%		1.85	%		2.09	%		2.00	%		2.04	%		2.25	%		2.48	%
16		1.91	%		1.89	%		2.03	%		2.27	%		2.15	%		2.24	%		2.45	%		2.71	%
17		2.01	%		2.00	%		2.16	%		2.39	%		2.37	%		2.39	%		2.68	%		2.89	%
18		2.07	%		2.10	%		2.30	%		2.53	%		2.52	%		2.55	%		2.88	%		3.08	%
19		2.11	%		2.24	%		2.42	%		2.67	%		2.67	%		2.73	%		3.08	%		3.22	%
20		2.17	%		2.35	%		2.50	%		2.81	%		2.83	%		2.93	%		3.23	%		3.40	%
21		2.24	%		2.46	%		2.58	%		2.92	%		2.99	%		3.12	%		3.38	%		3.59	%
22		2.34	%		2.55	%		2.67	%		3.10	%		3.16	%		3.27	%		3.54	%		3.78	%
23		2.43	%		2.63	%		2.77	%		3.28	%		3.34	%		3.38	%		3.67	%		3.96	%
24		2.52	%		2.71	%		2.87	%		3.38	%		3.49	%		3.52	%		3.83	%		4.18	%
25		2.62	%		2.77	%		3.01	%		3.55	%		3.63	%		3.63	%		4.00	%		4.41	%
26		2.71	%		2.82	%		3.14	%		3.68	%		3.75	%		3.73	%		4.16	%		4.58	%
27		2.80	%		2.89	%		3.16	%		3.84	%		3.86	%		3.84	%		4.35	%		4.79	%
28		2.87	%		2.96	%		3.29	%		3.98	%		3.97	%		3.97	%		4.50	%		4.96	%
29		2.90	%		3.02	%		3.40	%		4.14	%		4.09	%		4.11	%		4.64	%		5.08	%
30		2.95	%		3.09	%		3.50	%		4.19	%		4.21	%		4.26	%		4.79	%
31		3.00	%		3.17	%		3.61	%		4.30	%		4.33	%		4.40	%		4.92	%
32		3.02	%		3.20	%		3.68	%		4.38	%		4.47	%		4.50	%		5.02	%
33		3.08	%		3.27	%		3.74	%		4.46	%		4.59	%		4.61	%
34		3.14	%		3.35	%		3.81	%		4.57	%		4.68	%		4.70	%
35		3.15	%		3.41	%		3.87	%		4.66	%		4.79	%		4.78	%
36		3.21	%		3.47	%		3.91	%		4.76	%		4.86	%
37		3.25	%		3.52	%		3.97	%		4.84	%		4.93	%
38		3.30	%		3.55	%		4.03	%		4.96	%
39		3.35	%		3.58	%		4.09	%		5.03	%
40		3.39	%		3.61	%		4.13	%		5.13	%
41		3.39	%		3.63	%		4.18	%		5.20	%
42		3.42	%		3.66	%		4.23	%		5.24	%
43		3.45	%		3.68	%		4.28	%
44		3.47	%		3.72	%		4.33	%
45		3.48	%		3.75	%		4.35	%
46		3.50	%		3.79	%
47		3.52	%		3.80	%
48		3.56	%		3.83	%
49		3.58	%		3.85	%
50		3.60	%		3.85	%
51		3.62	%
52		3.63	%
53		3.64	%
54
55
Prime Mix (2)		70	%		70	%		70	%		67	%		68	%		69	%		68	%		68	%

[Additional columns below]

[Continued from above table, first column(s) repeated]

Period (1)		2001-A			2001-B			2001-C			2002-1			2002-2			2002-3			2002-4			2003-1
	1		0.00	%		0.00	%		0.00	%		0.00	%		0.00	%		0.00	%		0.00	%		0.00	%
	2		0.03	%		0.03	%		0.04	%		0.01	%		0.00	%		0.02	%		0.02	%		0.01	%
	3		0.09	%		0.10	%		0.09	%		0.06	%		0.03	%		0.06	%		0.07	%
	4		0.20	%		0.21	%		0.20	%		0.15	%		0.10	%		0.14	%		0.16	%
	5		0.33	%		0.33	%		0.35	%		0.29	%		0.18	%		0.27	%		0.26	%
	6		0.50	%		0.50	%		0.49	%		0.43	%		0.32	%		0.44	%
	7		0.70	%		0.69	%		0.65	%		0.60	%		0.49	%		0.57	%
	8		0.84	%		0.87	%		0.81	%		0.84	%		0.66	%		0.70	%
	9		1.04	%		1.05	%		0.95	%		1.06	%		0.82	%
	10		1.24	%		1.22	%		1.07	%		1.28	%		0.96	%
	11		1.45	%		1.36	%		1.20	%		1.48	%		1.10	%
	12		1.67	%		1.53	%		1.37	%		1.67	%
	13		1.90	%		1.67	%		1.55	%		1.82	%
	14		2.09	%		1.81	%		1.74	%
	15		2.25	%		2.00	%		1.97	%
	16		2.41	%		2.19	%		2.16	%
	17		2.54	%		2.37	%		2.36	%
	18		2.73	%		2.60	%		2.59	%
	19		2.93	%		2.80	%		2.78	%
	20		3.11	%		3.01	%		2.95	%
	21		3.34	%		3.19	%
	22		3.54	%		3.34	%
	23		3.72	%		3.49	%
	24		3.92	%
	25		4.10	%
	26		4.23	%
	27
	28
	29
	30
	31
	32
	33
	34
	35
	36
	37
	38
	39
	40
	41
	42
	43
	44
	45
	46
	47
	48
	49
	50
	51
	52
	53
	54
	55
	Prime Mix (2)		71	%		71	%		76	%		70	%		87	%		85	%		80	%		80	%

(1) Represents the number of months since the inception of the securitization.

(2) Represents the original percentage of prime automobile contracts securitized within each pool.