First Bancorp (FBNC): History, Ownership, Mission, How It Works & Makes Money

How does First Bancorp (FBNC) maintain its footing as a leading community bank while navigating volatile markets, especially with total assets reaching $12.60 Billion USD as of June 2025? That kind of scale, coupled with a nine-month 2025 adjusted net income of $116.8 million, defintely shows their strategy is working, but what drives that consistent value for shareholders? If you're looking to understand the mechanics behind their 3.46% net interest margin (NIM) in the third quarter of 2025, you need a precise breakdown of their history, ownership, and core mission to map their future opportunities.

First Bancorp (FBNC) History

You want to understand how First Bancorp (FBNC) grew from a small-town bank into a regional financial player with over $12.6 billion in assets as of September 2025. The story isn't a straight line; it's a century-long series of strategic moves, starting with a tiny capital base and focusing intensely on community growth.

First Bancorp's Founding Timeline

Year established

The company was established in 1907, though its operating subsidiary, First Bank, traces its direct lineage to the 1935 founding of Bank of Montgomery.

Original location

Troy, North Carolina.

Founding team members

Norwood L. Thompson is the key figure noted in the founding, serving as its early president and board chairman.

Initial capital/funding

The initial capital investment was a modest $25,000.

First Bancorp's Evolution Milestones

First Bancorp's Transformative Moments

The company's trajectory has been defintely shaped by two major themes: aggressive, yet disciplined, acquisition strategy and a relentless focus on core banking profitability. You can see this clearly in the recent financials. The decision to go public, first in 1987, was the enabler for all the subsequent deals.

The 2000 acquisition of Cooperative Bankshares was a game changer. It wasn't just a merger; it was a leap that instantly tripled the asset base, moving First Bancorp from a small regional player to a serious competitor in the Carolinas. That's how you get scale quickly.

More recently, the focus has been on driving shareholder value through strong net interest income (NII). For the third quarter of 2025, the company reported net interest income after provision for credit losses of $99,047 thousand, a sharp increase from the previous year. That shows effective management of their loan and deposit portfolio in a challenging rate environment.

Here's the quick math on their recent performance:

• Net Income for Q3 2025: $20,363 thousand.
• Basic and Diluted Earnings Per Share (EPS) for Q3 2025: $0.49.
• Total Assets as of September 2025: $12.6 billion.

The latest results confirm the strategy is working, with net income for the nine months ended September 30, 2025, hitting $95,335 thousand. This growth is a testament to their commitment to their community banking model, which you can read more about in their Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of First Bancorp (FBNC).

Finance: Review the Q3 2025 10-Q filing to understand the drivers behind the $99,047 thousand NII figure by Friday.

First Bancorp (FBNC) Ownership Structure

First Bancorp (FBNC) is a publicly traded bank holding company primarily controlled by institutional investors, which own the vast majority of outstanding shares, while company insiders hold a small but significant stake, aligning leadership interests with shareholder value.

First Bancorp's Current Status

First Bancorp is a public company, trading on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol FBNC. As of November 2025, the company commands a market capitalization of approximately $2.11 billion, reflecting its position as a key regional bank holding company in the Carolinas. Its subsidiary, First Bank, operates 113 bank branches across North and South Carolina.

This public status means the company is subject to rigorous reporting requirements from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), providing you, the investor, with a high degree of transparency. The stock recently traded around $50.95 per share.

First Bancorp's Ownership Breakdown

The ownership structure is heavily weighted toward institutional investors, a common trait among mid-cap financial institutions, which means major strategic decisions often require the support of large asset managers like BlackRock, Inc. and The Vanguard Group, Inc. Institutional investors hold roughly two-thirds of the stock, so their preferences defintely matter.

Here's the quick math: with institutional ownership at 68.36% and insider ownership at 3.65%, the remaining float, or general public ownership, is 27.99%. The concentration of power is notable; the top 12 shareholders collectively own about 50% of the company, giving them significant influence over the board and major corporate actions.

First Bancorp's Leadership

The company is steered by a seasoned executive team, with a blend of long-tenured leaders and new appointments in 2025, ensuring both stability and fresh perspective. Richard H. Moore, for example, has served as CEO of First Bancorp since 2012.

• Richard H. Moore: Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of First Bancorp. He is the top decision-maker for the entire holding company.
• Michael G. Mayer: President of First Bancorp and a Director. He previously served as CEO of the subsidiary, First Bank, until February 2025.
• G. Adam Currie: Chief Executive Officer of First Bank and a recent appointee to the Boards of Directors for both First Bank and First Bancorp in October 2025. He was named CEO of First Bank in February 2025.
• Elizabeth B. Bostian: Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO), overseeing the financial health and reporting.

The appointment of G. Adam Currie to the parent company's board in late 2025 is a key governance move, directly linking the operational leadership of the bank to the strategic direction of the holding company. If you want to dive deeper into the core values driving this team, you can check out the Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of First Bancorp (FBNC).

First Bancorp (FBNC) Mission and Values

First Bancorp's core purpose is to be a sound, profitable, and independent community bank, which means balancing strong financial performance with deep, personalized customer service. This focus on local impact, not just Wall Street returns, is the defintely the cultural DNA of the company.

You're looking for a company's true north, and for First Bancorp, it's about operating profitably so they can keep serving their local markets effectively. Think of it as a flywheel: financial stability allows for better community investment, which in turn strengthens their customer base.

Given Company's Core Purpose

The company's commitment to its communities is directly tied to its financial discipline. For example, the third quarter of 2025 saw noninterest expenses total $60.2 million, a necessary investment in the knowledgeable staff and branch network that deliver on their mission. Also, they reported a total of $12.8 billion in assets, showing the scale of the financial institution that supports this community-first model.

Official mission statement

First Bancorp's mission is a clear mandate for how they operate and serve their customers:

• Operate as a sound, profitable, independent community bank.
• Provide financial services responsive to the needs of customers.
• Deliver quality products via knowledgeable, friendly people.

This mission underscores their role as a local institution, prioritizing personalized service over a purely transactional approach. It's a simple, powerful statement: be financially strong so you can be a great neighbor.

Vision statement

The vision for First Bancorp centers on market leadership and enduring customer relationships. It's about being the go-to bank in their operating regions, particularly in the Carolinas, by adapting quickly to evolving customer needs through innovation.

• Be recognized as the leading community bank in its markets.
• Build long-term relationships through exceptional service.
• Maintain a strong and stable financial performance.

This vision is backed by action, like the over 9% annualized loan growth reported in the third quarter of 2025, which shows a clear focus on expanding their core lending relationships. For a deeper look at their guiding principles, you can explore Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of First Bancorp (FBNC).

Given Company slogan/tagline

While the company uses a few phrases that capture its ethos, the most common themes reflect its commitment to local service and partnership. They want you to see them as an ally, not just a vendor.

• Your Partner in Financial Success.
• Community Banking at Its Best.

The company's core values-like Integrity, Respect, and Dedication-are what translate these slogans into real-world results. Honestly, a slogan is just words unless your people live the values, and with over 11,400 employee volunteer hours recorded in 2024, their community involvement is measurable action.

First Bancorp (FBNC) How It Works

First Bancorp operates as the holding company for First Bank, a regional community bank that primarily generates revenue by taking deposits and lending those funds back out to individuals and businesses across the Carolinas. This model is straightforward: they make money on the spread, or net interest margin (NIM), between the interest earned on their loan portfolio and the interest paid on customer deposits.

With total assets reaching approximately $12.8 billion as of September 30, 2025, First Bancorp focuses on tailored financial solutions, blending local expertise with modern technology to serve its customer base.

Given Company's Product/Service Portfolio

Given Company's Operational Framework

The operational framework is built on a community banking foundation, which means local decision-making is defintely prioritized over a rigid, centralized structure. This allows First Bank to quickly assess and meet the specific needs of its regional markets in North Carolina and South Carolina.

The bank's value creation process centers on efficient capital deployment and risk management. Honestly, you can see this in their Q3 2025 metrics:

• Deposit Gathering: Attracting core customer deposits through 113 physical branches and digital channels, which provides a stable, lower-cost funding source.
• Lending: Deploying those deposits into high-quality loans, which resulted in a Q3 2025 Net Interest Income of $102.5 million.
• Risk Control: Maintaining strong credit quality; nonperforming assets were low at just 0.31% of total assets as of September 30, 2025.
• Digital Integration: Utilizing mobile and internet banking to enhance customer convenience and accessibility, which helps keep the efficiency ratio in check.

If you want to dive deeper into the numbers, you should check out Breaking Down First Bancorp (FBNC) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

Given Company's Strategic Advantages

First Bancorp's success isn't just about the products; it's about how they execute against larger competitors. Their key strategic advantages are rooted in local market penetration and financial discipline.

Here's the quick math: a strong capital base plus deep local trust equals resilience. The company has a total liquidity ratio of 35.3% as of September 30, 2025, which gives them significant flexibility to navigate economic shifts.

• Local Market Dominance: Deep, established roots in the Carolinas give them a competitive edge over national banks, fostering stronger customer loyalty and better insight into local credit risks.
• Net Interest Margin Expansion: Effective management of deposit costs and loan yields allowed the Net Interest Margin to expand to 3.46% in the third quarter of 2025, a crucial profitability driver.
• Seasoned Leadership: An experienced management team with a proven track record, which is vital for maintaining sound financial health and strategic consistency.
• Brand Trust: A strong brand presence in the Southeast banking sector, evidenced by consistent net income growth, including $95.3 million for the first nine months of 2025.

First Bancorp (FBNC) How It Makes Money

First Bancorp, the parent company of First Bank, primarily makes money the way most regional banks do: by borrowing short and lending long. The core of its business model is the net interest income (NII), which is the difference between the interest it earns on its loans and investments and the interest it pays out on customer deposits and borrowings.

This is a simple business, but the execution is complex. You can see this in the Q3 2025 results, where NII accounted for the vast majority of its operating revenue, even as the bank works to grow its fee-based services for diversification.

First Bancorp's Revenue Breakdown

For the third quarter of 2025, First Bancorp's revenue was overwhelmingly driven by its core lending activities. While the reported noninterest income was skewed by a one-time securities loss, a look at the normalized revenue shows the true engine of the business.

Here's the quick math: Net Interest Income for Q3 2025 was $102.5 million. Core noninterest income, excluding a significant one-time securities loss of $27.9 million, was approximately $15.0 million. This is a bank, defintely not a tech company-interest income is the main game.

Business Economics

The financial health of First Bancorp hinges on its ability to manage its interest rate spread, which is the difference between the yield on its earning assets (mostly loans) and the cost of its funding (mostly deposits). This is quantified by the net interest margin (NIM).

• Net Interest Margin (NIM): The NIM expanded to 3.46% in the third quarter of 2025, up significantly from 2.88% in the same quarter a year ago. This expansion is a clear sign of effective asset-liability management.
• Loan Pricing Strategy: The bank has benefited from its assets repricing, meaning older, lower-rate loans are maturing and being replaced by new loans with higher yields. Loan yields increased by 16 basis points in Q3 2025 to 5.69%.
• Deposit Cost Management: A core strength has been managing the cost of deposits, especially after the Federal Reserve's rate cuts. The total cost of deposits for Q3 2025 was 1.46%. Keeping this cost low while loan yields rise is the key to expanding NIM.
• Fee Income Drivers: The noninterest income stream, while smaller, is growing and provides diversification. Key components include service charges on deposit accounts ($4.2 million in Q3 2025) and other service charges and fees ($6.4 million in Q3 2025).

The securities loss-earnback transaction executed in Q3 2025 was a strategic move: they sold lower-yielding securities to reinvest the proceeds into higher-yielding assets, boosting future NII, even though it created a one-time noninterest income hit.

First Bancorp's Financial Performance

Looking past the one-time charges, the underlying profitability and asset quality for First Bancorp remain strong as of the end of Q3 2025. These metrics are what you need to focus on to gauge the sustainability of their business model.

• Adjusted Earnings Per Share (EPS): Adjusted diluted EPS for Q3 2025 was $1.01, demonstrating strong operational performance when excluding the securities loss.
• Profitability Ratios: The adjusted Return on Average Assets (ROA) was 1.31%, and the adjusted Return on Average Tangible Common Equity (ROTCE) was a robust 15.66% for the quarter. These are solid numbers for a regional bank.
• Loan Portfolio Growth: Total loans reached $8.4 billion at September 30, 2025, with an impressive annualized growth rate of 9.3% in Q3. This growth directly feeds the NII engine.
• Asset Quality: Credit risk remains well-managed. Nonperforming assets (NPAs) were low at 0.31% of total assets, and the annualized net loan charge-off rate was just 0.14%.

The bank is growing its loan book aggressively while keeping credit quality tight. Breaking Down First Bancorp (FBNC) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors

First Bancorp (FBNC) Market Position & Future Outlook

First Bancorp is positioned as a high-performing regional bank, leveraging its deep community roots in North and South Carolina to drive consistent net interest income growth. The company's future trajectory hinges on its ability to sustain loan growth-which was a notable 9% annualized in the third quarter of 2025-while navigating interest rate volatility and managing noninterest income fluctuations.

Competitive Landscape

First Bancorp operates primarily in the highly competitive Southeast market, where its focus on community and commercial banking allows it to thrive against much larger national and super-regional banks. The company is the fourth-largest bank holding company headquartered in North Carolina, a key differentiator that highlights its local influence despite its modest overall market share relative to giants like Bank of America.

Here's the quick math: with total deposits of approximately $10.8 billion in Q2 2025, First Bancorp holds a low single-digit share of the multi-hundred-billion-dollar deposit market in its core operating states, but this concentration makes it a powerful local force.

Opportunities & Challenges

The near-term outlook for First Bancorp is a balance between capitalizing on regional economic strength and mitigating specific financial risks that surfaced in 2025. The strong credit quality, with nonperforming assets (NPAs) at a low 0.31% of total assets in Q3 2025, gives management confidence to pursue growth.

Industry Position

First Bancorp maintains a strong position as a top-tier mid-cap regional bank, not just in size but in operational efficiency and financial discipline. Its liquidity is robust, with a total liquidity ratio of 35.3% as of Q2 2025, which is a defintely solid buffer against market shocks.

• Sustained Profitability: Net income for the first nine months of 2025 reached $95.3 million, demonstrating effective expense management and core banking strength.
• Credit Quality: The low NPA ratio of 0.31% is a testament to prudent credit risk management, which is essential in a fluctuating economic environment.
• Analyst Consensus: The company holds a consensus rating of 'Moderate Buy' from Wall Street analysts, reflecting optimism about its growth strategy and strong capital base.

The focus now is on translating that core strength into higher shareholder returns, a topic explored further in Exploring First Bancorp (FBNC) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?