First Community Corporation (FCCO): History, Ownership, Mission, How It Works & Makes Money

Is First Community Corporation (FCCO) just another regional bank, or does its recent 47.8% year-to-date net income growth through Q3 2025 signal a deeper strategic advantage you should be watching? This holding company for First Community Bank differentiates itself by providing a full suite of services-commercial banking, residential mortgage banking, and financial planning/investment advisory services-which pushed its Assets Under Management (AUM) to a record $1.103 billion as of September 30, 2025. For a bank founded in 1995 that's actively expanding its footprint, understanding how its core lines of business drove a diluted EPS of $1.85 year-to-date is defintely crucial for any investor or strategist. Let's break down the history, ownership, and mechanics behind that growth.

First Community Corporation (FCCO) History

First Community Corporation's Founding Timeline

First Community Corporation (FCCO) didn't just appear overnight; it was a deliberate, local effort to build a community bank. The holding company was officially incorporated in November 1994, with the subsidiary, First Community Bank, commencing operations in August 1995. This staggered start allowed for the necessary regulatory and capital groundwork to be laid before opening the doors for business.

Year established

The holding company, First Community Corporation, was incorporated in November 1994. The subsidiary, First Community Bank, began operations in August 1995.

Original location

The company is headquartered in Lexington, South Carolina.

Founding team members

The bank's foundation was built by a group of seasoned executives, notably including:

• Michael C. Crapps (President & CEO)
• David Proctor (Founding Chief Credit Officer, served until 2019)
• Joe Sawyer (Founding Chief Financial Officer, served until 2019)

Initial capital/funding

While the exact initial capital raise for the 1995 opening is not explicitly detailed, the First Community Bank's Total Bank Equity Capital stood at $27,366,000 by December 31, 1995. This figure represents the substantial capital base established immediately following the bank's launch to support its commercial and retail banking mission.

First Community Corporation's Evolution Milestones

The company's evolution shows a clear path of measured growth, market expansion, and a focus on diversified services, moving from a single-market bank to a regional player with multiple lines of business.

First Community Corporation's Transformative Moments

Honest to goodness, the biggest shifts for First Community Corporation have centered on capital structure, executive continuity, and smart, regional expansion. You can't overlook the long-term impact of these decisions.

The transition to a public entity in 1998 was fundamental, providing the capital necessary to fund growth beyond the initial investor base. The IPO, with a $14.00 issue price, set the stage for sustained expansion. Also, the company's commitment to shareholders is clear: as of 2025, they have paid a cash dividend for the 94th consecutive quarter. That's defintely a statement of financial stability.

More recently, the company's performance in the 2025 fiscal year highlights its current strength and trajectory. For the third quarter of 2025, net income was a strong $5.2 million, translating to a diluted earnings per share of $0.67. Here's the quick math on scale: the company's total assets stood at $2.07 billion as of September 30, 2025. That's a solid balance sheet for a regional bank.

The decision to acquire Signature Bank of Georgia, announced in July 2025, is a key transformative moment. It moves the company beyond its core South Carolina markets and into the vibrant Atlanta MSA. This isn't just adding branches; it's a strategic move to diversify risk and capture growth in a high-demand commercial market. If you want to dive deeper into who's backing this growth, check out Exploring First Community Corporation (FCCO) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

First Community Corporation (FCCO) Ownership Structure

First Community Corporation (FCCO) is a publicly traded bank holding company, meaning its ownership is distributed among a diverse group of institutional and individual investors, but it is not privately held. The company's governance is driven by a mix of large institutional funds and its own executive leadership team, which holds a small but significant insider stake.

First Community Corporation's Current Status

First Community Corporation is a public entity, trading on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the ticker symbol FCCO. As of November 2025, the company's market capitalization stands at approximately $207.31 million, with shares trading around $27.35. This public status subjects the company to rigorous regulatory oversight from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), ensuring transparency for all stakeholders. To be fair, this size means it is a smaller, more community-focused bank holding company, but still one with a fiduciary duty to its nearly 7.7 million shares outstanding.

You can dig deeper into the numbers here: Breaking Down First Community Corporation (FCCO) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors

First Community Corporation's Ownership Breakdown

The majority of First Community Corporation's stock is held by institutional investors (pension funds, mutual funds, hedge funds) who are typically passive but influential shareholders. This high institutional ownership-over 60%-is common for publicly traded financial institutions and defintely impacts trading volume and stability. Here's the quick math on who controls the float:

First Community Corporation's Leadership

The company is steered by a seasoned executive team and a board with deep regional ties, ensuring local decision-making remains a core focus. Michael C. "Mike" Crapps, the long-tenured President and CEO of First Community Corporation, leads the overall strategy and investor relations. The average tenure of the management team is about 6.3 years, which shows stability in leadership.

The Executive Leadership Team includes:

• Michael C. "Mike" Crapps: President & Chief Executive Officer, First Community Corporation.
• J. Ted Nissen: President & Chief Executive Officer, First Community Bank (the primary subsidiary).
• D. Shawn Jordan: Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer.
• Sarah T. Donley: Executive Vice President, Chief Operations Officer/Chief Risk Officer.
• John F. 'Jack' Walker IV: Executive Vice President, Chief Credit Officer.

The dual CEO structure, with Mr. Crapps focusing on the holding company and Mr. Nissen on the bank's day-to-day operations, ensures clear accountability. The board, which includes figures like W. James Kitchens, Jr. as Vice Chairman, provides oversight and strategic direction, keeping the management team focused on delivering value for all shareholders, institutional and retail alike.

First Community Corporation (FCCO) Mission and Values

First Community Corporation's core identity is built on a community-first banking model, driving its mission to be the financial partner of choice for customers, the employer of choice for its team, and a consistent investment for shareholders. This focus on local relationships and disciplined growth is why the company reported a diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.85 for the nine months ended September 30, 2025, a solid metric in a challenging rate environment.

First Community Corporation's Core Purpose

You need to know what a bank stands for beyond its quarterly net income of $14.375 million-that's the cultural DNA that dictates long-term stability and risk management. First Community Corporation, through its subsidiary First Community Bank, anchors its strategy on a four-part mission that balances customer service, employee development, community contribution, and shareholder return. This is defintely a classic community banking framework.

Official mission statement

The mission statement reflects a commitment to a multi-stakeholder model, aiming to cultivate deep, lasting relationships across all operational spheres.

• Be the bank whose customers wouldn't think of banking anywhere else.
• Offer lifelong opportunities for the team to be the best they can be.
• Contribute time, talent, and resources to the communities served.
• Consistently strive to preserve and enhance the legacy of shareholders.

This commitment to community engagement is a key differentiator in the regional banking space, which is why we track their Tangible Book Value (TBV) per common share, which hit $19.06 as of September 30, 2025. For a deeper dive into how these values translate to the balance sheet, check out Breaking Down First Community Corporation (FCCO) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

Vision statement

The vision is clear and customer-centric, focusing on tangible results for the people they serve. It's a simple, powerful goal.

• Enabling customers to attain their financial goals.

This vision is supported by a strong operational performance, including a year-to-date total loan growth of $58.8 million through the third quarter of 2025, showing they are actively funding their customers' goals. Plus, a Net Interest Margin (NIM) of 3.27% in Q3 2025 shows they are doing this profitably.

First Community Corporation slogan/tagline

While an official, short-form slogan isn't always front-and-center for a holding company, the sentiment that drives their investor communications and brand presence is clear.

• Growing ever stronger.

The company's core values-Integrity, Teamwork, Excellence, and Change and Innovation-are the bedrock for this growth, guiding everything from loan underwriting to customer deposit strategies, which saw an increase of $95.3 million in total deposits year-to-date through September 30, 2025.

First Community Corporation (FCCO) How It Works

First Community Corporation, through its subsidiary First Community Bank, operates as a full-service commercial bank, primarily making money by taking customer deposits and using those funds to originate loans and invest in securities.

It's a classic community banking model, but scaled-the company generates revenue across three core lines of business: Commercial and Retail Banking, Residential Mortgage Banking, and Investment Advisory services, serving local businesses and professionals across South Carolina and Georgia.

First Community Corporation's Product/Service Portfolio

First Community Corporation's Operational Framework

The company's operations are focused on a regional, relationship-driven approach, which is crucial for a community bank. They concentrate their physical footprint in high-growth areas of the Southeast US, specifically the Midlands, Aiken, Upstate, and Piedmont Regions of South Carolina, plus the Augusta, Georgia region.

Their framework is simple: attract stable, low-cost deposits (the raw material for lending) and deploy that capital into high-quality loans, mostly to local businesses. This creates a strong net interest margin (NIM) which, on a tax equivalent basis, was 3.27% in the third quarter of 2025. That's how you make money in banking, defintely.

• Capital Deployment: Total loans stood at $1.279 billion as of September 30, 2025, up 6.1% annualized in Q3 2025.
• Funding Strategy: Total deposits were $1.771 billion as of September 30, 2025, with non-interest bearing accounts making up 27.3% of that total.
• Value Creation: The bank's ability to grow customer deposits by $27.6 million in Q3 2025, excluding brokered certificates of deposit (CDs), shows the strength of their local deposit franchise.

For a deeper dive into the company's financial stability, you should read Breaking Down First Community Corporation (FCCO) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

First Community Corporation's Strategic Advantages

The company's success isn't just about good lending; it's about a deliberate strategy of geographic focus, credit quality, and smart acquisitions that set it apart from larger, more impersonal banks.

• Superior Asset Quality: Credit metrics are exceptionally strong. The non-performing assets (NPAs) ratio was a mere 0.04% of total assets as of September 30, 2025, indicating very low credit risk.
• Disciplined Capital Management: The bank maintains a Common Equity Tier I ratio of 13.10%, well above regulatory minimums, providing a significant buffer for growth or economic downturns.
• Strategic Expansion: The planned acquisition of Signature Bank of Georgia, announced in July 2025, is a clear move to expand into the high-growth Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA metropolitan statistical area (MSA) and add specialized Small Business Administration (SBA) and government-guaranteed lending (GGL) lines of business.
• Relationship Focus: Operating as the largest community bank in the South Carolina Midlands gives them a significant competitive edge in attracting and retaining local business clients who prefer direct access to decision-makers.

First Community Corporation (FCCO) How It Makes Money

First Community Corporation, the holding company for First Community Bank, primarily makes money through the classic banking model: borrowing low and lending high, which is called net interest income. They also generate a significant portion of their revenue from fee-based services like wealth management and mortgage banking to diversify their income streams.

First Community Corporation's Revenue Breakdown

As of the third quarter of 2025, the company's revenue engine is heavily weighted toward its core banking operations, but its fee-based businesses are growing fast. Total revenue for Q3 2025 was approximately $20.46 million.

The Net Interest Income of $15.994 million in Q3 2025 represents the difference between the interest they earn on loans and investments and the interest they pay on deposits. Non-Interest Income, which totaled about $4.466 million, comes mainly from their Investment Advisory and Mortgage lines of business, and it is defintely a key area for margin stability.

Business Economics

The core economic fundamental for First Community Corporation is the net interest margin (NIM)-the spread between loan yields and deposit costs. In Q3 2025, the NIM, on a tax-equivalent basis, was 3.27%, marking the sixth consecutive quarter of margin expansion. That's a strong signal they are managing their interest rate risk well and pricing loans effectively in a volatile rate environment.

Their deposit strategy is also a critical component of their business economics. Customer deposits (excluding brokered CDs) grew by $27.6 million in Q3 2025, which is a 6.3% annualized growth rate. This focus on relationship-based, lower-cost deposits is what keeps the cost of funds manageable and directly supports that expanding NIM.

• Loan Growth: Total loans increased by $19.3 million in Q3 2025, an annualized growth rate of 6.1%.
• Fee-Based Revenue: Investment advisory revenue hit $1.862 million in Q3 2025, showing a strong commitment to growing their assets under management (AUM), which reached a record $1.103 billion.
• Mortgage Business: The mortgage line of business generated $934 thousand in fee revenue during the quarter, which is a steady source of non-interest income, even with fluctuating housing market conditions.

To be fair, the company's strategic focus is on organic growth across South Carolina and northeast Georgia, plus they are working on an acquisition of Signature Bank of Georgia to expand their market, which will also add Small Business Administration (SBA) and government-guaranteed lending (GGL) lines of business. You can see their detailed focus on community and growth in their Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of First Community Corporation (FCCO).

First Community Corporation's Financial Performance

The company's financial health as of the end of Q3 2025 is robust, showing strong profitability and excellent credit quality. Net income for the quarter was $5.192 million, a significant 34.5% increase year-over-year. That kind of jump shows real operating leverage.

• Earnings Per Share (EPS): Diluted EPS for Q3 2025 was $0.67, compared to $0.50 a year ago, demonstrating a 34.0% year-over-year growth.
• Credit Quality: Asset quality metrics are exceptionally strong. The ratio of non-performing assets (NPAs) to total assets was a tiny 0.04% in Q3 2025, and the past due ratio was just 0.07%. This indicates very low risk in their loan portfolio.
• Capital Ratios: The bank maintains strong capital with a Tangible Common Equity to Tangible Assets ratio (TCE ratio) of 7.15%, up from 6.65% a year earlier.
• Dividends: The company has a long history of returning capital, having paid a cash dividend of $0.16 per common share in Q3 2025, marking its 95th consecutive quarter of payments.

Here's the quick math on profitability: Year-to-date through September 30, 2025, net income was $14.375 million, which is a 47.8% increase over the same period in 2024. That level of growth in a regional bank is what you look for when evaluating sustainability and growth potential.

First Community Corporation (FCCO) Market Position & Future Outlook

First Community Corporation (FCCO) is well-positioned as the premier community bank in the South Carolina Midlands, leveraging strong Q3 2025 earnings and a clear acquisition-led growth strategy to expand its footprint and service offerings. The company's future outlook hinges on successfully integrating its upcoming acquisition and capitalizing on its excellent credit quality to drive loan and deposit growth in high-growth Southeastern markets.

Competitive Landscape

FCCO competes primarily with larger regional banks and major national institutions, but it maintains a distinct advantage through its local focus on small-to-medium sized businesses (SMBs) and professionals. Here's the quick math on how FCCO's market share in its core Midlands region compares to two key competitors, based on the latest available regional and state data.

Opportunities & Challenges

You're looking at a bank that's generating strong internal growth-with year-to-date diluted earnings per share (EPS) at $1.85 through September 30, 2025 [cite: 5 in step 2]-but still faces the same macro-level risks as its larger peers. The near-term opportunities are clear, but you defintely need to watch the interest rate environment.

Industry Position

First Community Corporation is a classic example of a high-performing community bank. It operates as the largest community bank in the South Carolina Midlands and the fifth largest in the entire state [cite: 1 in step 1]. Its focus on commercial banking, residential mortgage lending, and investment advisory services allows for diversified revenue streams, unlike some pure-play lenders [cite: 6 in step 2].

The core of their strategy is to deliver personalized service and strong credit quality, exemplified by a non-performing assets (NPAs) ratio of just 0.04% as of September 30, 2025 [cite: 2 in step 1]. That's an incredibly clean balance sheet. Plus, its regulatory capital ratios are strong, with a Common Equity Tier I ratio of 13.10% at June 30, 2025, well above required minimums [cite: 11 in step 2].

• Total Assets: $2.1 billion as of September 30, 2025 [cite: 1 in step 1].
• Investment Advisory Assets Under Management (AUM): Exceeded $1.1 billion in Q3 2025 [cite: 1 in step 1, 2 in step 1].
• Strategic Growth: Focused on organic growth plus accretive acquisitions to expand its geographic and service reach, as detailed in the Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of First Community Corporation (FCCO).

The upcoming merger is a clear move to gain scale and specialized expertise, which is crucial for a regional bank to compete effectively against the massive resources of national players like Truist Financial Corporation.