2020 Year IN Review

2020 Highlights

01

First Bancorp named to S&P SmallCap 600 Index

...we originated 2,810 PPP loans totaling $245 million for small businesses in our communities..."

Richard H. Moore

Chief Executive Officer

Dear Shareholders, Customers, and Friends,

Despite the many challenges of this past pandemic year, we were pleased to create even deeper partnerships with our customers, communities, and employees as we navigated the uncertain times together. With positive news on the vaccine, I'm hopeful that we will all return to normalcy soon.

For our shareholders, the economic uncertainty that prevailed for most of

2020 resulted in a bumpy ride for the banking industry, which I discuss further below. But by remaining focused on our core community-banking mission, I believe our company had a very successful year.

At the onset of the pandemic and on short notice, the U.S. government authorized the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). We quickly assembled a team to assist our customers in accessing

  1. funding and by mid-May, we had originated 2,810 PPP loans totaling $245 million for small businesses in our communities to help them meet the challenges of the pandemic.

As COVID-19 began to spread, we closed our branch lobbies for a period of time to establish safety protocols, but were able to effectively serve our customers on a drive-through basis. By late May, we were one of the first banks to re-open our lobbies, which many of our customers greatly appreciated.

continued...

02

#1 Best-In-State Bank

in North Carolina

03

Donna Ward

named new COO

Donna has been with the Bank for more than two decades, serving in a variety of positions including director of training, branch administration manager, and director of project management. In her new role, she oversees all of the Bank's operation groups along with the teams in IT, digital banking, and our customer service centers.

2020 Year In Review

04

EverFi National Financial Bee

Our investment in technology over

First Bank became one of the top sponsors

of EverFi's National Financial Bee - a contest to

the past several years really paid off in

encourage high school students to learn the fundamentals

2020. With customers staying at home

of savings and financial planning.

more and using their computers and

Of the 37 sponsors, First Bank landed at

phones to transact their banking, our

10th for highest essay entries and engagement

easy-to-use banking app saw record

(more than 1,550 visitors to the page).

levels of use, reaching 1.7 million logins

The bank also sponsored four

in May 2020, which was a 70% increase

...our easy-to-use

who entered through our

from a year earlier. The use of our app

$1,000 local scholarship winners

remains high, and its ease-of-use is

banking app saw

contest landing page.

very popular with customers.

record levels of use,

reaching 1.7 million logins

In June 2020, we received a nice

in May 2020, which was a

recognition from Forbes, with First Bank

70% increase from a

being named as the Best In-State

Bank in North Carolina. This ranking

year earlier."

was based on customer satisfaction

surveys in the areas of trust, terms

From an earnings perspective, during

For shareholders, after trading lower

and conditions, branch services,

2020, we set aside a high level of loan

as concerns about the pandemic

digital services, and financial advice.

loss provision to reserve for probable

emerged, our stock price rose steadily

This was our second consecutive year

losses arising from the stressed

near the end of 2020, ending the year

being recognized, and we are the

economic conditions that many of our

at $33.83 per share. This resulted in

only bank in those years to have our

borrowers experienced as a result of

a five-year total return on our stock

headquarters in North Carolina.

the pandemic. In total, our loan loss

of 96% compared to a peer average

provision was $35.0 million for the year

of 45%. In 2021, our share price has

We experienced strong balance

compared to just $2.3 million in 2019,

continued to perform well and closed

sheet growth in 2020, with total assets

which was the primary reason our 2020

at $40.93 on February 25, 2021. Due to

increasing to $7.3 billion, an 18.7%

earnings of $81.5 million were down

our strong capital position, during

increase from a year earlier. Driving

11.5% from 2019. While lower than

2020 we were able to repurchase

this growth was a $1.3 billion, or 27.2%,

the prior year, our 2020 earnings were

$31 million of our stock at an average

increase in deposits.

still the third-highest annual earnings

price of $28.53 per share. And I hope

reported in our history.

you saw that we recently increased our

quarterly dividend payout by 11.1% to

$0.20 per share.

We believe the future of our nation

and our Bank is bright, and we look

05

forward to continuing to serve you.

Autobooks

Sincerely,

A convenient online payments and invoicing

tool that business clients can access right

in online and mobile banking.

More than $9 million in payments have gone

through the system so far, and the annual shared

Richard H. Moore

fee income continues to increase with

each new business client added.

Chief Executive Officer

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020

Commission File Number 0-15572

FIRST BANCORP

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

North Carolina

56-1421916

(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization)

(I.R.S. Employer Identification Number)

300 SW Broad St., Southern Pines,

North Carolina

28387

(Address of Principal Executive Offices)

(Zip Code)

(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)

(910) 246-2500

Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each class

Trading Symbol

Name of each exchange on which registered

Common Stock, No Par Value

FBNC

The Nasdaq Global Select Market

Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933. Yes No

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Yes No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that

the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes

No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer," "smaller reporting company," and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Large Accelerated Filer

Accelerated Filer

Non-Accelerated Filer

Smaller Reporting Company

Emerging growth company

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management's assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act

(15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes No

The aggregate market value of the Common Stock, no par value, held by non-affiliates of the registrant, based on the closing price of the Common Stock as of June 30, 2020 as reported by The NASDAQ Global Select Market, was approximately $711,100,000.

The number of shares of the registrant's Common Stock outstanding on February 26, 2021 was 28,492,779.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the Registrant's Proxy Statement to be filed pursuant to Regulation 14A are incorporated herein by reference into Part III.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

PART I

Item 1

Business

4

Item 1A

Risk Factors

17

Item 1B

Unresolved Staff Comments

27

Item 2

Properties

27

Item 3

Legal Proceedings

27

Item 4

Mine Safety Disclosures

27

PART II

Item 5

Market for Registrant's Common Stock, Related Shareholder Matters, and Issuer Purchases of

27

Equity Securities

Item 6

Selected Consolidated Financial Data

29

Item 7

Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

29

Item 7A

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

59

Item 8

Financial Statements and Supplementary Data:

Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2020 and 2019

78

Consolidated Statements of Income for each of the years in the three-year period ended

79

December 31, 2020

Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income for each of the years in the three-year

80

period ended December 31, 2020

Consolidated Statements of Shareholders' Equity for each of the years in the three-year period

81

ended December 31, 2020

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended

82

December 31, 2020

Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements

83

Item 9

Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosures

140

Item 9A

Controls and Procedures

140

Item 9B

Other Information

140

PART III

Item 10

Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance

141

Item 11

Executive Compensation

141

Item 12

Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Shareholder

141

Matters

Item 13

Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence

141

Item 14

Principal Accountant Fees and Services

141

PART IV

Item 15

Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules

142

Item 16

Form 10-K Summary

144

SIGNATURES

145

  • Information called for by Part III (Items 10 through 14) is incorporated herein by reference to the Registrant's definitive Proxy Statement for the 2021 Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on or before April 30, 2021.

3

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First Bancorp published this content on 22 June 2021 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 22 June 2021 13:48:01 UTC.