First Bancorp (FNLC) Shareholders OK All Annual Meeting Proposals as Chair Tindall Retires

Key Points

• Shareholders approved all proposals at the 2026 annual meeting — including director elections, advisory votes on executive compensation and auditor ratification — and long-serving board chair Bruce Tindall retired after serving since 1999; turnout was about 85%, the highest in six years.
• The bank posted net income growth of 27% in 2025 with $3.2 billion in total assets and $2.39 billion in loans; $53 million of loan growth was more than fully funded by a $77 million increase in core deposits, and the company paid $1.47 per share in dividends for 2025 (Q1 2026 dividend $0.37).
• Net interest margin recovered to 2.86% in Q1 2026 and is expected to approach about 3% later in 2026, while asset quality remained strong (non-performing assets 0.41% of assets) and an improved deposit mix reduced funding costs by cutting expensive wholesale time deposits.

First Bancorp, Inc ME) (NASDAQ: FNLC shareholders approved all proposals presented at the company’s 2026 annual meeting, including the election of directors, advisory votes on executive compensation and vote frequency, and the ratification of the company’s independent auditor.

Voting results and meeting business

Tony C. McKim, President and CEO, opened the virtual meeting and introduced directors and advisors participating, including Todd Desjardins of Berry, Dunn, McNeil & Parker, LLC and Michael J. Anderson of Pierce Atwood LLP. McKim also noted that Bruce Tindall, the board chair, is retiring at the end of the meeting after serving on the board since 1999 and as chair for the past three years.

Christopher J. Austin, clerk of The First Bancorp, reported that as of the Feb. 19, 2026 record date, there were 11,270,319 outstanding shares eligible to vote. The inspector of elections reported that at least 9,593,345 shares had voted, establishing a quorum.

Shareholders approved four items, with the inspector reporting the following outcomes:

• Director elections: All nominees were elected to one-year terms, including Robert B. Gregory, Ingrid H. Kachmar, Renee W. Kelly, Tony C. McKim, Cornelius J. Russell, Stuart G. Smith, Kimberly S. Swan, and F. Stephen Ward.
• Advisory vote on executive compensation: 67% of outstanding shares were voted, with 97% in favor.
• Advisory vote frequency on executive compensation: 61% of outstanding shares were voted, with 88% supporting an annual vote.
• Auditor ratification: 85% of outstanding shares were voted, with 99% in favor of ratifying Berry, Dunn, McNeil & Parker, LLC as independent auditor for 2026.

McKim also highlighted participation levels, saying 85.12% of outstanding shares were voted, which he called the highest participation in six years.

2025 financial highlights and first-quarter update

Richard M. Elder, Treasurer and CFO, reviewed 2025 results and first-quarter 2026 performance. Elder said the company maintained total assets at $3.2 billion in 2025 and reported net income growth of 27% versus the prior year. He also said loan growth of $53 million was “more than fully funded” by local core deposits, which increased by $77 million. The company distributed cash dividends of $1.47 per share in 2025, Elder said.

Elder described changes in the balance sheet mix, including a $23 million decline in investments as cash flow was redeployed to loan growth and reductions in wholesale funding, and an $18 million reduction in cash balances. He said loans were nearly 76% of total assets at year-end 2025, up from 74% at year-end 2024 and 63% in 2020.

On loan composition, Elder said total loans reached $2.39 billion at the end of 2025. He said commercial real estate and commercial and industrial loans together comprised 59% of total loans, while one-to-four family residential real estate loans accounted for 38%.

Credit quality and funding mix

Elder said asset quality remained satisfactory, citing a non-performing assets to total assets ratio of 0.41% and non-performing loans of 0.54% of total loans at year-end 2025. While those metrics increased from “extraordinary post-pandemic lows,” he said they remained below pre-pandemic norms.

On funding, Elder said total deposits decreased by $60 million in 2025, but characterized the decline as positive for the company’s funding mix because core deposits increased by $77 million while total time deposits—“mostly expensive wholesale CDs”—fell by $138 million. Borrowings increased by $41 million, he said, and the changes contributed to lowering the overall cost of funds. Elder also said the company maintained “day one access” to external funding of over $700 million.

For the first quarter of 2026, Elder said earnings increased 27.1% from the first quarter of 2025, driven by net interest margin expansion and growth in fee-based revenue. He said loans grew during the quarter, asset quality remained satisfactory, and the company paid a dividend of $0.37 per share for the period.

Management commentary: margin recovery, strategic plan, and transitions

McKim discussed margin trends, saying the company’s net interest margin had recovered from a low point and reached 2.86% in the first quarter of 2026, compared with 3.31% in 2024. He said most legacy fixed-rate commercial loans had repriced and the company expected margin to return to about 3% in the latter part of 2026, while noting the bank has taken “strategic balance sheet steps” to remove interest-rate risk and uses “balance sheet derivatives” to stabilize results.

McKim also pointed to staff transitions, saying Carrie Warren will retire in the first half of the year and Paige Klosky is being prepared to succeed her. He added that CIO Tammy Plummer plans to retire in July, and that Brad Martin has been hired as her replacement, with the two working together for a “seamless transition.”

Looking ahead, McKim said 2026 is the final year of the company’s fourth three-year strategic plan (the 2024 plan), which includes 881 action steps. He said the company had completed 695 action steps through Dec. 31, 2025, or about 79%, and that planning for the next strategic plan (2027-2029) is expected to begin in the fall.

Shareholder questions addressed

McKim responded to a shareholder’s emailed questions regarding loan contractual maturities and charge-offs. On maturities, he said the construction loan maturity table reflects “contractual maturities,” and that construction loans typically have short construction periods (two years or less for commercial and one year or less for residential) before automatically converting to term loans. “The answer is no, we do not do five-year and 10-year construction periods,” he said.

On charge-offs, McKim said charge-offs increased 133%, or about $1 million, year over year, with about $0.8 million of the increase coming from commercial and industrial loans. He said that increase included “3 bankruptcies and one company became insolvent.”

In a final live question, McKim said private market failures would not affect the company’s balance sheet, although he noted the stock price can be influenced by broader equity market weakness.

About First Bancorp, Inc ME) (NASDAQ: FNLC

First Bancorp, Inc NASDAQ: FNLC is a Maine-based bank holding company headquartered in Dover-Foxcroft. Through its principal subsidiary, The First National Bank of Dover-Foxcroft, the company provides a full suite of community banking services to individuals, small businesses and nonprofit organizations. Its core deposit offerings include checking, savings, money market and certificate of deposit accounts, complemented by online and mobile banking platforms.

On the lending side, First Bancorp's product portfolio spans consumer and residential mortgage loans as well as commercial and agricultural lending.

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