First Bancorp Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results

Fourth Quarter 2025 Highlights

• Diluted earnings per share ("D-EPS") was $0.38 per share for the fourth quarter of 2025 compared to $0.49 for the linked quarter and $0.08 for the like quarter. 
• Excluding the impact of the $43.7 million securities loss,  adjusted D-EPS was $1.19 per share for the fourth quarter of 2025.
• Loan growth accelerated in the fourth quarter, resulting in total loans of $8.7 billion at December 31, 2025, representing an increase of $303.2 million, or 14.3% annualized. Total loan yield was 5.58%, down 11 basis points from the linked quarter and up 11 basis points from the like quarter. 
• The yield on securities increased 14 basis points to 2.69% for the quarter ended December 31, 2025 from 2.55% for the linked quarter.  A securities loss-earnback transaction was executed during November, including the sale of $342.0 million of securities and the purchase of $228.4 million of securities with a weighted average yield of 4.36%. The increased yield on the new purchases was included for half of the fourth quarter.
• Total cost of funds decreased 15 basis points to 1.36% for the quarter ended December 31, 2025 from 1.51% for the linked quarter and 1.62% for the like quarter.
• Average core deposits were $10.8 billion for the fourth quarter of 2025, a decrease of $7.8 million from the linked quarter.  Total cost of deposits was 1.32%, a decrease of 14 basis points from 1.46% for the linked quarter and a decrease of 25 basis points from the like quarter at 1.57%. 
• Expense management continues to be a focus.  Noninterest expenses of $62.2 million represented a $2.0 million increase from the linked quarter and $3.9 million from the like quarter.  The linked quarter increase was driven by a $1.8 million increase in Other operating expenses and a $0.6 million increase in Total personnel expense.
• During the fourth quarter of 2025, the Company sold an office building and recognized a pretax gain of $4.6 million.
• Noninterest-bearing demand deposits were $3.5 billion, representing 32% of total deposits at December 31, 2025.  During the fourth quarter of 2025, period end customer deposits contracted by $132.8 million.
• The loan-to-deposit ratio increased to 81.2% as of December 31, 2025.
• The Company repaid $18 million of subordinated debt during the fourth quarter. As a result, along with loan growth, certain regulatory capital ratios declined during the quarter.

SOUTHERN PINES, N.C., Jan. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- First Bancorp (the "Company") (NASDAQ - FBNC), the parent company of First Bank, reported unaudited fourth quarter and full year earnings today.  The Company announced net income of $15.7 million, or $0.38 D-EPS, for the three months ended December 31, 2025 compared to $20.4 million, or $0.49 D-EPS, for the three months ended September 30, 2025 ("linked quarter") and $3.6 million, or $0.08 D-EPS, for the fourth quarter of 2024 ("like quarter").   For the twelve months ended December 31, 2025, the Company recorded net income of $111.0 million, or $2.68 per diluted common share, compared to $76.2 million, or $1.84 per diluted common share, for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024.

Adjusting for the securities loss-earnback transaction completed in November, adjusted net income was $49.3 million, or $1.19 adjusted D-EPS, for the fourth quarter of 2025. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2025, excluding the securities loss-earnback transactions in the third and fourth quarters, adjusted net income was $166.1 million, or $4.01 adjusted D-EPS.

The Company continued to enhance net interest income and net interest margin ("NIM") during the fourth quarter of 2025. The Company recorded net interest income of $106.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2025, compared to $102.5 million for the linked quarter and $88.8 million for the like quarter. NIM for the fourth quarter of 2025 expanded to 3.58% from 3.46% for the linked quarter and 3.05% for the like quarter. 

First Bancorp also continued to maintain expense control with noninterest expenses of $62.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2025, up slightly from $60.2 million for the linked quarter and $58.3 million for the like quarter.  For the twelve months ended December 31, 2025, the Company recorded noninterest expense of $239.3 million, up slightly from $235.6 million, for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024.

The results for the fourth quarter 2025 include a securities loss of $43.7 million ($33.6 million after-taxes, or negative $0.81 per diluted share) from the securities loss-earnback transaction that included the sale of $342.0 million of available-for-sale securities yielding of 1.67%. The reconciliations from net income and D-EPS to adjusted net income and adjusted D-EPS (both non-GAAP measures) for the fourth quarter of 2025 are presented in Appendix D.

The results for the fourth quarter of 2025 also include a $1.6 million reduction to the potential impacts to the allowance for credit losses from Hurricane Helene ($1.2 million after-taxes or $0.03 per diluted share).The reconciliations from net income and per share impact for the fourth quarter of 2025 are presented in Appendix H.

Richard H. Moore, Chairman and CEO of the Company, stated "First Bancorp closed 2025 with strong momentum, highlighted by a 51 basis-point expansion in net interest margin for the year, solid loan growth and continued expense discipline.  During the quarter we grew loans at an annualized rate of more than 14%  and our earnings continued to benefit from rising asset yields as higher-yielding assets replaced lower-yielding COVID-era assets.  Our liquidity, capital and credit quality remain strong and we are very pleased with the Bank's performance and its accelerating momentum as we move into 2026."

Net Interest Income and Net Interest Margin

Net interest income for the fourth quarter of 2025 was $106.2 million, an increase of 3.6% from the linked quarter of $102.5 million and 19.5% from the like quarter of $88.8 million.  The increase in net interest income from the linked and like quarters was primarily driven by our focused efforts to manage deposit costs after the rate cuts by the Federal Reserve in 2025, while increasing loan yields through originations as well as increased securities yields resulting from the securities loss-earnback transactions executed in the fourth quarter of 2024 and the third and fourth quarters of 2025.

The Company's NIM for the fourth quarter of 2025 was 3.58%, an increase of 12 basis points from the linked quarter and 53 basis points from the like quarter.  Within interest-earning assets, average loans increased $237.8 million while loan yields decreased 11 basis points during the quarter to 5.58%, attributable to the three rate cuts by the Federal Reserve between September and December 2025.  Also, we executed a securities loss-earnback transaction including the purchase of $228.4 million of securities with a weighted average yield of 4.36% that contributed to the 14 basis point increase in the yield on securities as compared to the linked quarter.  During the quarter ended December 31, 2025, the cost of interest-bearing deposits decreased 21 basis points from the linked quarter and declined 34 basis points from the like quarter, attributable to the three rate cuts by the Federal Reserve between September and December 2024 and the three additional rate cuts between September and December 2025.  The like quarter expansion of NIM was driven by the same factors described above resulting in an increase of 73 basis points in securities yield,  an increase of 11 basis points in loan yields, and a decrease of 34 basis points in the cost of interest-bearing deposits.

See Appendix I regarding loan purchase discount accretion and its impact on the Company's NIM.

Provision for Credit Losses and Credit Quality

For the three months ended December 31, 2025, September 30, 2025 and December 31, 2024, the Company recorded $4.7 million, $3.4 million and $0.5 million in provision for credit losses, respectively. The provision for the fourth quarter of 2025 was driven by net charge-offs of $1.1 million and reserves related to $303.2 million of loan growth, partially offset by the $1.6 million reduction in reserves for potential credit exposure from Hurricane Helene.  The net effect of these factors was a $2.6 million increase in the allowance for credit losses to $123.6 million, or 1.42% of loans.  Additionally, the $1.0 million provision for unfunded commitments during the quarter was the result of an increase in the level of available unfunded lending commitments.  The provision for the fourth quarter of 2024 was driven by loan growth and net charge offs.

Based upon its continuing evaluation of the potential impacts from Hurricane Helene, the Company adjusted the incremental reserve for potential exposure from Hurricane Helene to $1.9 million as of December 31, 2025.  The remaining incremental reserve contributes two basis points to the Allowance for Credit Losses at period end. 

Asset quality remained strong with annualized net loan charge-offs of 0.05% for the fourth quarter of 2025.  Total nonperforming assets ("NPAs") totaled $37.7 million at December 31, 2025, or 0.30% of total assets, down slightly from 0.31% at September 30, 2025 and consistent with 0.30% at December 31, 2024.  

The following table presents the summary of NPAs and asset quality ratios for each period.

Noninterest Income

Total noninterest income for the fourth quarter of 2025 was negative $22.3 million, reflecting the inclusion of the $43.7 million loss on securities.  Excluding the loss on securities, noninterest income totaled $21.4 million during the fourth quarter of 2025, a 42.6% increase from the $15.0 million adjusted noninterest income recorded in the linked quarter and a 57.0% increase from the $13.6 million recorded for the like quarter.  As compared to the linked quarter, noninterest income, excluding the loss on securities, increased primarily due to a pretax gain of $4.6 million realized upon the sale of an office building during the quarter.

Noninterest Expenses

Noninterest expenses amounted to $62.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2025 compared to $60.2 million for the linked quarter and $58.3 million for the like quarter.  The $2.0 million, or 3.3%, increase in noninterest expense from the linked quarter was driven by a $0.6 million increase in total personnel expenses arising from increased total personnel expense and incentives as well as a $1.8 million increase in other operating expenses. The $3.9 million increase from the like quarter was driven by a $2.3 million increase in total personnel expenses and a $1.7 million increase in other operating expenses. For the fourth quarter of 2025, other operating expenses included several elevated expense categories arising from increased customer-driven and seasonal activity.

Income Taxes

Income tax expense totaled $1.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2025 compared to $5.6 million for the linked quarter and $3.3 million for the like quarter. These equated to effective tax rates of 7.3%, 21.6% and 48.4% for the respective periods.  The fourth quarter of 2025 included approximately $2.1 million of net discrete tax benefits, primarily arising from state taxes, including the continued NC graduated tax rate reductions.

Balance Sheet

Total assets at December 31, 2025 were $12.7 billion, a decrease of $81.9 million, or 2.5% annualized, from the linked quarter and an increase of $520.6 million, or 4.3%, from a year earlier.

Key period end balance sheet components are presented below.

Driven by prepayments, maturities and sales in excess of reinvestments, total investment securities decreased to $2.6 billion at December 31, 2025, reflecting a $118.7 million decrease from the linked quarter.  Total unrealized losses on available for sale investment securities was $194.1 million at December 31, 2025, as compared to $251.8 million at September 30, 2025 and $368.1 million at December 31, 2024.  As part of the November securities loss-earnback transaction in the securities portfolio, $342.0 million of securities were sold at a loss of $43.7 million and $228.4 million of securities were purchased, with a weighted average yield of 4.36%.

Total loans amounted to $8.7 billion at December 31, 2025, an increase of $303.2 million, or 14.3% annualized, from September 30, 2025 and an increase of $627.7 million, or 7.8%, from December 31, 2024.  Please see below table for total loan portfolio mix.  As of December 31, 2025, there were no notable concentrations in geographies within North Carolina and South Carolina or industries, including in office or hospitality categories, which are included in the "commercial real estate - non-owner occupied" category in the table below.  The Company's exposure to non-owner occupied office loans represented approximately 6.3% of the total portfolio at December 31, 2025, with the largest loan being $33.0 million and with an average loan outstanding balance of $1.4 million.  Non-owner occupied office loans are generally in non-metro markets and the ten largest loans in this category represent less than 2% of the total loan portfolio.

The following table presents the period end balance and portfolio percentage by loan category.

Total deposits were $10.7 billion at December 31, 2025, a decrease of $132.7 million, or 4.8% annualized, from  September 30, 2025 and an increase of $217.9 million, or 2.1%, from December 31, 2024.

The Company has a diversified and granular deposit base which has remained a stable funding source with noninterest-bearing deposits comprising 32% of total deposits at December 31, 2025.  As presented in the table below, our deposit mix has remained relatively consistent.

As of December 31, 2025 and September 30, 2025, estimated insured deposits totaled $6.5 billion, or 60.2% of total deposits.  In addition, at December 31, 2025 and September 30, 2025, there were collateralized deposits of $730.4 million and $682.7 million, respectively, such that approximately 67.0% and 66.0%, respectively, of our total deposits were insured or collateralized at those dates.

Capital

The Company maintains capital in excess of well-capitalized regulatory requirements, with an estimated total risk-based capital ratio at December 31, 2025 of 16.08%, down from  the linked quarter ratio of 16.58% and from the like quarter ratio of 16.63%.   The decrease during the fourth quarter of 2025 in risk-based capital ratios was driven by the $303.2 million of loan growth during the quarter, which carries a higher risk weight than short term investments, along with the repayment of $18.0 million of subordinated debt during the quarter.

The Company has elected to exclude accumulated other comprehensive income ("AOCI") related primarily to available for sale securities from common equity tier 1 capital.  AOCI is included in the Company's tangible common equity ("TCE") to tangible assets ratio (a non-GAAP financial measure) which was 9.61% at December 31, 2025, an increase of 49 basis points from the linked quarter and 139 basis points from December 31, 2024.  The fourth quarter increase in TCE was driven by improvements in the level of unrealized losses on the available for sale securities portfolio during the quarter, partially a result of the securities loss-earnback transaction along with market improvements. Please refer to Appendix A for a reconciliation of common equity to TCE (a non-GAAP measure) and Appendix C for a calculation of the TCE ratio (a non-GAAP measure).

Liquidity

Liquidity is evaluated as both on-balance sheet (primarily cash and cash-equivalents, unpledged securities and other marketable assets) and off-balance sheet (readily available lines of credit and other funding sources).  The Company continues to manage liquidity sources, including unused lines of credit, at levels believed to be adequate to meet its operating needs for the foreseeable future. 

The Company's on-balance sheet liquidity ratio (net liquid assets as a percent of net liabilities) at December 31, 2025 was 14.9%.  In addition, the Company had approximately $2.5 billion in available lines of credit at that date resulting in a total liquidity ratio of 32.8%. 

About First Bancorp

First Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Southern Pines, North Carolina, with total assets of $12.7 billion. Its principal activity is the ownership and operation of First Bank, a state-chartered community bank that operates 113 branches in North Carolina and South Carolina.  Since 1935, First Bank has taken a tailored approach to banking, combining best-in-class financial solutions, helpful local expertise, and technology to manage a home or business.  First Bank also provides SBA loans to customers through its nationwide network of lenders. Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender.

Please visit our website at www.LocalFirstBank.com for more information.

First Bancorp's common stock is traded on The NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "FBNC."

Caution about Forward-Looking Statements: This News Release release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties.  Forward-looking statements are statements that include projections, predictions, expectations or beliefs about future events or results or otherwise are not statements of historical fact.  Such statements are often characterized by the use of qualifying words (and their derivatives) such as "expect," "believe," "estimate," "plan," "project," "anticipate," or other words or phrases concerning opinions or judgments of the Company and its management about future events.  Factors that could influence the accuracy of such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the financial success or changing strategies of the Company's customers, the Company's level of success in integrating acquisitions, actions of government regulators, the level of market interest rates, and general economic conditions.  For additional information about the factors that could affect the matters discussed in this paragraph, see the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K available at www.sec.gov.  Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements.  The Company is also not responsible for changes made to this press release by wire services, internet services or other media.

Non-GAAP Measures

In this Earnings Release, we present certain measures of our performance that are calculated by methods other than in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP").  Company management uses these non-GAAP measures for purposes of evaluating our performance. Non-GAAP measures exclude or include amounts that are not normally excluded or included in the most directly comparable measure determined in accordance with GAAP. Company management believes an appropriate analysis of the Company's financial performance requires an understanding of the factors underlying such performance.  Non-GAAP financial measures should not be viewed as substitutes for the most directly comparable financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. Please see the Appendices attached to this Earnings Release for reconciliations of return on tangible common equity, tangible common equity, tangible book value per share, the tangible common equity ratio, adjusted net income and adjusted D-EPS.