First Bancorp is a bank holding company. Our principal activity is the ownership
and operation of First Bank (the “Bank”), a state-chartered bank
with its main office in Southern Pines, North Carolina. The Company is also
the parent to a series of statutory business trusts organized under the laws
of the State of Delaware that were created for the purpose of issuing trust
preferred debt securities.
The Company was incorporated in North Carolina on December 8, 1983, as Montgomery
Bancorp, for the purpose of acquiring 100% of the outstanding common stock of
the Bank through a stock-for-stock exchange. On December 31, 1986, the Company
changed its name to First Bancorp to conform its name to the name of the Bank,
which had changed its name from Bank of Montgomery to First Bank in 1985.
The Bank was organized in 1934 and began banking operations in 1935 as the Bank
of Montgomery, named for the county in which it operated. Until September 2013,
the Bank’s main office was in Troy, North Carolina, located in the center
of Montgomery County. In September 2013, the Company and the Bank moved their
main offices approximately 45 miles to Southern Pines, North Carolina, in Moore
County. We conducted business from 88 branches covering a geographical area
from Florence, South Carolina to the southeast, to Wilmington, North Carolina
to the east, to Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina to the northeast, to Salem,
Virginia to the north, to Abingdon, Virginia to the northwest, and to Asheville,
North Carolina to the west. We also have loan production offices in Greenville,
North Carolina and Charlotte, North Carolina. Of the Bank’s 88 branches,
75 branches are in North Carolina, six branches are in South Carolina and seven
branches are in Virginia (where we operate under the name “First Bank
of Virginia”). Ranked by assets, the Bank was the sixth largest bank headquartered
in North Carolina as of December 31, 2015.
We engage in a full range of banking activities, with the acceptance of deposits
and the making of loans being our most basic activities. We offer deposit products
such as checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as time deposits,
including various types of certificates of deposits (CDs) and individual retirement
accounts (IRAs). We provide loans for a wide range of consumer and commercial
purposes, including loans for business, agriculture, real estate, personal uses,
home improvement and automobiles. We also offer credit cards, debit cards, letters
of credit, safe deposit box rentals and electronic funds transfer services,
including wire transfers. In addition, we offer internet banking, mobile banking,
cash management and bank-by-phone capabilities to our customers, and are affiliated
with ATM networks that give our customers access to 67,000 ATMs, with no surcharge
fee. We also offer a mobile check deposit feature for our mobile banking customers
that allows them to securely deposit checks via their smartphone. For our business
customers, we offer remote deposit capture, which provides them with a method
to electronically transmit checks received from customers into their bank account
without having to visit a branch. We are a member of the Certificate of Deposit
Account Registry Service (CDARS), which gives our customers the ability to obtain
FDIC insurance on deposits of up to $50 million, while continuing to work directly
with their local First Bank branch.
Because the majority of our customers are individuals and small to medium-sized
businesses located in the counties we serve, management does not believe that
the loss of a single customer or group of customers would have a material adverse
impact on the Bank. There are no seasonal factors that tend to have any material
effect on the Bank’s business, and we do not rely on foreign sources of
funds or income. Because we operate primarily within North Carolina, southwestern
Virginia and northeastern South Carolina, the economic conditions of these areas
could have a material impact on the Company. See additional discussion below
in the section entitled “Territory Served and Competition.”
Beginning in 1999, First Bank Insurance began offering non-FDIC insured investment
and insurance products, including mutual funds, annuities, long-term care insurance,
life insurance, and company retirement plans, as well as financial planning
services (the “investments division”). In May 2001, First Bank Insurance
added to its product line when it acquired two insurance agencies that specialized
in the placement of property and casualty insurance. In October 2003, the “investments
division” of First Bank Insurance became a part of the Bank and the primary
activity of First Bank Insurance became the placement of property and casualty
insurance products. On January 1, 2016, First Bank Insurance acquired Bankingport,
Inc., an insurance agency based in Sanford, North Carolina, which provides First
Bank Insurance with economies of scale and a larger platform for leveraging
insurance services throughout the First Bank branch network.
Our branches and facilities are primarily located in small communities whose
economies are based primarily on services, manufacturing and light industry.
Although our market is predominantly small communities and rural areas, the
market area is not dependent on agriculture. Textiles, furniture, mobile homes,
electronics, plastic and metal fabrication, forest products, food products,
and chicken hatcheries are among the leading manufacturing industries in the
trade area. Leading producers of lumber and rugs are located in Montgomery County,
North Carolina. The Pinehurst area within Moore County, North Carolina, is a
widely known golf resort and retirement area. The High Point, North Carolina,
area is widely known for its furniture market. New Hanover and Brunswick Counties,
located in the southeastern coastal region of North Carolina, are popular with
tourists and have significant retirement populations. Buncombe County, located
in the western region of North Carolina, is a highly diverse area with industries
in manufacturing, service, and tourism. Additionally, several of the communities
served by the Company are “bedroom” communities of large cities
like Charlotte, Raleigh and Greensboro, while several branches are located in
medium-sized cities such as Albemarle, Asheboro, Fayetteville, Jacksonville,
High Point, Southern Pines and Sanford. We also have branches in small communities
such as Bennett, Polkton, Vass, and Harmony.