A failed-bank acquisition lifted the first-quarter earnings of First Bancorp in Troy, N.C.
The $3.4 billion-asset company's earnings rose 56% from a year earlier, to $5.3 million, according to a late Tuesday press release. The first quarter of 2011 included a $6.2 million after-tax gain associated with the takeover of Bank of Asheville.
First Bancorp's loan-loss provision increased by 49% from the first quarter of 2010, to $11.3 million, though the company said that a third of the provision was tied to loans covered in an agreement with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
