Executive Summary

Q1 2025 was a clean quarter with margin-led earnings normalization: diluted EPS $0.88; adjusted diluted EPS $0.84; net income $36.4M; net interest income $92.9M as NIM-T/E expanded 19 bps to 3.27% on lower deposit costs and higher securities yields .
Against S&P Global consensus, normalized EPS beat ($0.84 vs $0.7825; +$0.06*), while revenue was modestly below ($104.7M actual vs $105.4M*; -$0.7M*) — a positive quality-of-earnings skew given margin expansion and operating discipline .
Credit remained solid; NPA/Assets improved to 0.27% and annualized NCOs were 0.17%; Hurricane Helene incremental reserve was reduced by $2.0M to $11.0M, aiding results by ~$0.04 per diluted share .
Liquidity and capital strengthened (TCE/TA 8.55%; CET1 14.53%; total RBC 16.79%) and customer deposits grew $214M with noninterest-bearing up $109M; the Board maintained the $0.22 dividend (declared Mar 14) — all supportive of strategic flexibility and investor confidence .
Narrative catalysts: continued NIM expansion from Fed cuts and Q4 securities earnback, disciplined costs, and succession execution (Adam Currie promoted to First Bank CEO) position the stock positively into 2025 .

What Went Well and What Went Wrong

What Went Well

Net interest margin expanded to 3.27% (+19 bps q/q; +47 bps y/y) as deposit costs fell 11 bps and securities yields rose 32 bps post Q4 earnback; loan yield improved to 5.52% (+5 bps q/q) .
Operating discipline: noninterest expense contracted to $57.9M (down $0.4M q/q and $1.3M y/y), with headcount reduced by 18 FTEs and lower bankcard/personnel costs linked to better operating results .
Management tone confident: “Our ability to enhance net interest income and margin as well as maintain prudent expense management bodes well for the future… solid liquidity and excess capital will provide us strategic flexibility” — Richard H. Moore, CEO .

What Went Wrong

Revenue slightly missed consensus (actual $104.7M vs $105.4M*), despite strong NII growth; noninterest income was flat y/y and lower than underlying Q4 ex-loss .
Credit costs rose sequentially: provision $1.1M (vs $0.5M in Q4) driven by $3.3M net charge-offs (annualized 0.17%), though still benign; Helene reserve remained $11.0M at period end .
Loan growth muted: period-end loans up just $8.4M q/q (+0.4%) and +$26.5M y/y (+0.3%), reflecting continued conservative balance sheet posture and modest demand .

Financial Results

Metric	Q1 2024	Q3 2024	Q4 2024	Q1 2025
Net Interest Income ($USD Millions)	$79.27	$83.04	$88.84	$92.88
Diluted EPS ($USD)	$0.61	$0.45	$0.08	$0.88
Adjusted Diluted EPS ($USD)	$0.61	$0.70	$0.76	$0.84
NIM - Tax-Equivalent (%)	2.80%	2.90%	3.07%	3.27%
Provision for Credit Losses ($USD Millions)	$1.20	$14.20	$0.51	$1.12
Noninterest Income ($USD Millions)	$12.90	$13.58	$(23.18)	$12.90
Noninterest Expense ($USD Millions)	$59.19	$59.85	$58.28	$57.89
Net Income ($USD Millions)	$25.27	$18.68	$3.55	$36.41
Total Deposits (Period-End, $USD Millions)	$10,303.31	$10,504.93	$10,530.53	$10,744.66
Total Loans (Period-End, $USD Millions)	$8,076.51	$8,013.54	$8,094.68	$8,103.03
Total Cost of Deposits (%)	1.56%	1.76%	1.57%	1.46%
Loan Yield (%)	5.45%	5.51%	5.47%	5.52%

Segment (Loan Portfolio) Breakdown

Category ($USD Millions)	Mar 31, 2024	Dec 31, 2024	Mar 31, 2025
Commercial & Industrial	$872.62	$919.69	$890.07
Construction/Development/Land	$904.22	$647.17	$644.44
CRE - Owner Occupied	$1,238.76	$1,248.81	$1,233.73
CRE - Non-Owner Occupied	$2,524.22	$2,625.55	$2,701.75
Multi-family Real Estate	$457.14	$506.41	$512.96
Residential 1–4 Family	$1,684.17	$1,729.32	$1,709.59
Home Equity	$328.47	$345.88	$341.24
Consumer	$66.67	$70.65	$68.12
Total Loans (Gross)	$8,076.27	$8,093.49	$8,101.89

KPIs

KPI	Q1 2024	Q4 2024	Q1 2025
NPA / Total Assets (%)	0.30%	0.39%	0.27%
Annualized Net Charge-Offs (%)	0.08%	0.04%	0.17%
CET1 Ratio (%)	13.50%	14.33%	14.53%
Total Risk-Based Capital (%)	15.85%	16.61%	16.79%
TCE / Tangible Assets (%)	7.62%	8.22%	8.55%
On-Balance Sheet Liquidity Ratio (%)	—	17.6%	19.8%
Total Cost of Funds (%)	1.79%	1.62%	1.51%

Guidance Changes

Metric	Period	Previous Guidance	Current Guidance	Change
Common Dividend per Share	Q1 2025	$0.22 (Q4 2024 cash dividend declared)	$0.22 (declared Mar 14, 2025)	Maintained
No formal quantitative revenue/margin/tax guide was provided in the release or 8-K/presentation .

Earnings Call Themes & Trends

Note: A Q1 2025 earnings call transcript was not available via our document tools; themes are derived from the 8-K, earnings release, and presentation .

Topic	Previous Mentions (Q3 2024)	Previous Mentions (Q4 2024)	Current Period (Q1 2025)	Trend
NIM & Deposit Costs	NIM-T/E 2.90%; cost of deposits 1.76%; minimal Fed cut benefit	NIM-T/E 3.07%; cost of deposits fell 19 bps; securities yield +25 bps from earnback	NIM-T/E 3.27%; cost of deposits 1.46% (−11 bps q/q); securities yield +32 bps	Improving
Securities Loss-Earnback	No activity (Q3)	Executed late Nov; $36.8M loss; reinvested at ~5.27%	Ongoing benefit to asset yields; less than half of Q4 benefited	Tailwind continuing
Credit & Helene	$13.0M Helene provision; ACL +16 bps; NCOs 0.11%	Helene incremental reserve $13.0M; NCOs 0.04%	Helene reserve lowered to $11.0M (−$2.0M); NCOs 0.17%	Normalizing
Capital & Liquidity	TCE/TA 8.47%; total RBC 16.44%; liquidity 17.7%	CET1 14.33%; total RBC 16.61%; liquidity 17.6%	CET1 14.53%; total RBC 16.79%; liquidity 19.8% (total 36.4%)	Strengthening
Loan Growth	Contraction (−$56M q/q)	+$81M q/q growth	+$8.4M q/q growth	Modest
Leadership	—	—	Adam Currie promoted to CEO of First Bank; succession plan highlighted	Executed

Management Commentary

Richard H. Moore, CEO: “Our ability to enhance net interest income and margin as well as maintain prudent expense management bodes well for the future… Our solid liquidity and excess capital will provide us strategic flexibility in the days ahead.”
Presentation emphasis: “Strong capital levels with growth in every measure from Q4 2024 to Q1 2025… Capital ratios afford management strategic flexibility.”
Succession: “This transition is the culmination of a succession plan that has been in place for many years.” — Richard H. Moore, announcing Adam Currie as First Bank CEO .

Q&A Highlights

A Q1 2025 earnings call transcript could not be located in our document corpus or investor site linkouts; therefore, Q&A themes and any guidance clarifications are unavailable. We relied on the 8-K, press release, and investor presentation for qualitative insights .

Estimates Context

Metric	Consensus*	Actual	Surprise
Primary EPS (Normalized)	$0.7825*	$0.84	+$0.06*
Revenue	$105.37M*	$104.67M*	−$0.70M*
Target Price (Mean)	$58.75*	—	—

Values retrieved from S&P Global.
Counts: EPS estimates: 4*; Revenue estimates: 3*.
Interpretation: EPS beat reflects stronger margin and cost control; the slight revenue miss is immaterial given NII momentum and lower deposit costs .

Key Takeaways for Investors

Margin trajectory is favorable: NIM-T/E up 19 bps q/q to 3.27% with further room from deposit repricing and full-period securities earnback benefit — a core multiple driver. Focus on continued deposit cost relief and securities yield mix .
Quality earnings: Adjusted EPS $0.84 vs consensus $0.7825* indicates positive earnings momentum with disciplined expenses; lean opex supports upside leverage as rates normalize .
Credit steady, Helene risk abating: Helene reserve reduced to $11.0M; NPA/Assets improved to 0.27%. Monitor NCO cadence after the accelerated resolution-related charge-offs .
Capital/liquidity robust: CET1 14.53%, total RBC 16.79%, liquidity ratio 19.8% (total liquidity 36.4%) enable opportunistic balance sheet moves and shareholder returns (dividend maintained at $0.22) .
Loan growth is modest; expect earnings to be more margin-driven near term rather than volume-led — watch commercial pipelines and CRE non-owner exposure (~34% of loans; office ~6%) for cyclical sensitivity .
Succession plan executed; leadership continuity (Currie as First Bank CEO) should preserve strategic priorities and operating consistency — a stabilizing narrative for the stock .
Trading implications: Near-term setup favors multiple support on margin expansion and EPS beat; watch next quarter’s monthly NIM and deposit cost trends for confirmation and potential estimate revisions upward .

FIRST BANCORP /NC/ (FBNC)·Q1 2025 Earnings Summary