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Southern First Southern First Reports Results for First Quarter 2021 Greenville , South Carolina , April 27 , 2021 - Southern First Bancshares , Inc. ( NASDAQ : SFST ) , holding company for Southern First Bank , today announced its financial results for the three - month period ended March 31 , 2021 . " We are off to a strong start in 2021 with record earnings for the first quarter , " stated Art Seaver , the company's Chief Executive Officer . " I am proud of our team for continuing to provide a distinguishing value to our clients and for the impressive growth on both sides of our balance sheet . Our mortgage team had another excellent quarter , and we are excited about our overall performance . " 2021 First Quarter Highlights Net income improved to $ 10.4 million , a 266.0 % increase over Q1 2020 Diluted earnings per common share improved to $ 1.31 per share , a 263.9 % increase over Q1 2020 • • Total loans increased 7.6 % to $ 2.2 billion at Q1 2021 , compared to $ 2.0 billion at Q1 2020 • • Total deposits increased 11.5 % to $ 2.3 billion at Q1 2021 , compared to $ 2.0 billion at Q1 2020 Net interest margin improved to 3.60 % , compared to 3.43 % for Q1 2020 Earnings ( $ in thousands , except per share data ) : March 31 2021 December 31 2020 Quarter Ended September 30 2020 June 30 2020 March 31 2020 Net income available to common shareholders Earnings per common share , diluted Total revenue ( 1 ) $ 10,366 1.31 8,601 2,217 4,678 2,832 1.10 0.28 0.60 0.36 27,177 27,947 28,221 28,981 22,014 Net interest margin ( tax - equivalent ) ( 2 ) Return on average assets ( 3 ) Return on average equity ( 3 ) 3.60 % 3.55 % 3.52 % 3.42 % 3.43 % 1.68 % 1.38 % 0.36 % 0.77 % 0.51 % 18.22 % 15.51 % 4.03 % 8.78 % 5.42 % Efficiency ratio ( 4 ) 52.11 % 52.04 % 50.26 % 43.63 % 56.20 % Noninterest expense to average assets ( 3 ) 2.30 % 2.36 % 2.34 % 2.09 % 2.23 % Balance Sheet ( $ in thousands ) : Total loans ( 5 ) Total deposits Core deposits ( 6 ) Total assets Loans to deposits Holding Company Capital Ratios ( 7 ) : Total risk - based capital ratio Tier 1 risk - based capital ratio $ 2,183,682 2,258,751 2,161,759 2,142,867 2,142,758 2,011,903 2,078,540 2,036,801 2,030,261 2,181,056 2,188,643 2,025,698 2,011,919 1,991,005 1,804,027 2,579,922 2,482,587 2,479,411 2,482,295 2,372,249 96.68 % 100.01 % 95.30 % 93.06 % 100.23 % 14.82 % 14.40 % 14.15 % 13.76 % 13.59 % 12.43 % 11.99 % 11.73 % 11.37 % 11.29 % Leverage ratio 10.12 % 9.70 % 9.47 % 9.38 % 10.00 % Common equity tier 1 ratio ( 8 ) 11.79 % 11.34 % 11.07 % 10.72 % 10.63 % Tangible common equity ( 9 ) 9.28 % 9.20 % 8.82 % 8.71 % 8.87 % Asset Quality Ratios : Nonperforming assets / total assets 0.30 % 0.37 % 0.42 % 0.36 % 0.42 % Classified assets / tier one capital plus allowance for loan losses 14.42 % 8.18 % 7.00 % 7.51 % 7.99 % Loans 30 days or more past due 0.12 % 0.17 % 0.26 % 0.40 % 0.60 % Net charge - offs / average loans ( 5 ) ( YTD annualized ) 0.07 % 0.10 % 0.11 % 0.12 % 0.04 % Allowance for loan losses / loans ( 5 ) 1.99 % 2.06 % 2.03 % 1.55 % 1.11 % Allowance for loan losses / nonaccrual loans 557.47 % 547.14 % 482.43 % 350.74 % 226.14 % [ Footnotes to table located on page 6 ] 1