8-K

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE

SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): December 16, 2003

ECB BANCORP, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

NORTH CAROLINA	0-24753	56-2090738
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)	(Commission File Number)	(IRS Employer Identification No.)
Post Office Box 337 Engelhard, North Carolina		27824
(Address of principal executive offices)		(Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (252) 925-9411

Item 7. Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(c) Exhibits. The following exhibit accompanies this Report:

Exhibit No.	Exhibit Description
99.1	Copy of press our release dated December 16, 2003

Item 9. Regulation FD Disclosure.

On December 16, 2003, we announced that our Board of Directors had declared a cash dividend of $0.125 per share of our common stock, payable on January 12, 2004 to shareholders of record on December 29, 2003. A copy of our press release is attached as Exhibit 99.1 to this Report and is incorporated by reference into this Report.

Disclosures About Forward Looking Statements

The discussions included in this Report and its exhibits may contain forward looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995, including Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933. For the purposes of these discussions, any statement that is not a statement of historical fact may be considered to be a forward looking statement. Those statements usually will contain words such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “likely,” “believe,” “estimate,” or similar terms, or other statements concerning our opinions or judgments, and they are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from the way they are described. We have based those forward-looking statements on our current expectations and projections about future events. However, the accuracy of those statements could be affected by a variety of factors, including but not limited to, the financial success or changing conditions or strategies of our bank or our customers or vendors, fluctuations in interest rates, actions of government regulators, the availability of capital and personnel or general economic conditions.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, we have duly caused this Report to be signed on our behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

Date: December 16th , 2003 ECB BANCORP, INC. (Registrant) By: /s/ Gary M. Adams            Gary M. Adams       Chief Financial Officer

2

EX-99.1

Exhibit 99.1

[ECB LOGO APPEARS HERE] PRESS RELEASE

December 16, 2003

CONTACT: ECB Bancorp, Inc. Gary M. Adams, Chief Financial Officer (252) 925-5525 (252) 925-8491 facsimile

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ECB BANCORP, INC. REPORTS DECLARATION OF

QUARTERLY CASH DIVIDEND

ENGELHARD, NORTH CAROLINA-ECB Bancorp, Inc. (“ECB”), the parent holding company of The East Carolina Bank, announces that on December 16, 2003, ECB’s Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $.125 per share, payable January 12, 2004 to shareholders of record on December 29, 2003.

On an annualized basis the Company’s 2003 dividend of $.50 per share represents a 25% increase over the annual dividend in 2002 of $.40 per share.

Headquartered in Engelhard, NC, 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 20 offices in eastern North Carolina, including new Loan Production Offices in Morehead City and Wilmington, mortgages, insurance services through the Bank’s licensed agents and investment and brokerage services offered through a third-party broker-dealer. Its common stock is listed on The Nasdaq SmallCap Market under the symbol “ECBE”. More information on ECB can be obtained by visiting the Company’s web site at www.ecbbancorp.com.