Equity-Based Compensation Plans

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Equity-Based Compensation Plans

Equity-Based Compensation Plans

Note 15. Equity-Based Compensation Plans 

At December 31, 2012, the Company had the following equity-based compensation plans: the First Bancorp 2007 Equity Plan, the First Bancorp 2004 Stock Option Plan, and the First Bancorp 1994 Stock Option Plan. The Company’s shareholders approved all equity-based compensation plans. The First Bancorp 2007 Equity Plan became effective upon the approval of shareholders on May 2, 2007. As of December 31, 2012, the First Bancorp 2007 Equity Plan was the only plan that had shares available for future grants. 

The First Bancorp 2007 Equity Plan is intended to serve as a means to attract, retain and motivate key employees and directors and to associate the interests of the plans’ participants with those of the Company and its shareholders. The First Bancorp 2007 Equity Plan allows for both grants of stock options and other types of equity-based compensation, including stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, restricted performance stock, unrestricted stock, and performance units.

Recent equity grants to employees have either had performance vesting conditions, service vesting conditions, or both. Compensation expense for these grants is recorded over the various service periods based on the estimated number of equity grants that are probable to vest. No compensation cost is recognized for grants that do not vest and any previously recognized compensation cost will be reversed. As it relates to director equity grants, the Company grants common shares, valued at approximately $16,000 to each non-employee director (currently 13 in total) in June of each year. Compensation expense associated with these director grants is recognized on the date of grant since there are no vesting conditions.

Pursuant to an employment agreement, the Company granted the chief executive officer 75,000 non-qualified stock options and 40,000 shares of restricted stock during the third quarter of 2012. The option award and the restricted stock award will vest in full on December 31, 2014 and December 31, 2015, respectively, if the Company achieves certain earnings targets for those years, and will be forfeited if the applicable targets are not achieved. Compensation expense for this grant will be recorded over the various periods based on the estimated number of options and restricted stock that are probable to vest. If the awards do not vest, no compensation cost will be recognized and any previously recognized compensation cost will be reversed. Based on current conditions, the Company has concluded that it is not probable that these awards will vest, and thus no compensation expense has been recorded.

The Company granted long-term restricted shares of common stock to certain senior executives on February 23, 2012 with a two year minimum vesting period. The total compensation expense associated with this grant was $89,700 and the grant will fully vest on February 23, 2014. The Company recorded $37,400 in stock option expense during 2012, and expects to record $11,200 in stock option expense each quarter thereafter until the awards vest.

The Company granted long-term restricted shares of common stock to certain senior executives on February 24, 2011 with a two year minimum vesting period. The total compensation expense associated with the February 24, 2011 grant was $105,500 and the grant will fully vest on February 24, 2013. The Company recorded $41,400 and $41,700 in stock option expense during 2012 and 2011, respectively, and expects to record the remaining $6,500 in stock option expense in the first quarter of 2013.

The Company granted long-term restricted shares of common stock to certain senior executives on December 11, 2009 with a two year minimum vesting period. The total compensation expense associated with the December 11, 2009 grant was $398,000 and the grant fully vested on December 11, 2011. The Company recorded $298,000 and $100,000 in stock option expense during 2011 and 2010, respectively.

The Company also recorded compensation expense of $299,000 in each of 2011 and 2010 related to the partial vesting of a June 17, 2008 grant of a combination of performance units and stock options.

Under the terms of the predecessor plans and the First Bancorp 2007 Equity Plan, options can have a term of no longer than ten years, and all options granted thus far under these plans have had a term of ten years. The Company’s options provide for immediate vesting if there is a change in control (as defined in the plans).

At December 31, 2012, there were 521,613 options outstanding related to the three First Bancorp plans, with exercise prices ranging from $9.76 to $22.12. At December 31, 2012, there were 758,731 shares remaining available for grant under the First Bancorp 2007 Equity Plan.

The Company issues new shares of common stock when options are exercised.

The Company measures the fair value of each option award on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model. The Company determines the assumptions used in the Black-Scholes option pricing model as follows: the risk-free interest rate is based on the U.S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the time of the grant; the dividend yield is based on the Company’s dividend yield at the time of the grant (subject to adjustment if the dividend yield on the grant date is not expected to approximate the dividend yield over the expected life of the option); the volatility factor is based on the historical volatility of the Company’s stock (subject to adjustment if future volatility is reasonably expected to differ from the past); and the weighted-average expected life is based on the historical behavior of employees related to exercises, forfeitures and cancellations.

The Company’s equity grants for 2012 were the issuance of 1) 9,559 shares of long-term restricted stock to certain senior executives on February 23, 2012, at a fair market value of $10.96 per share, which was the closing price of the Company’s common stock on that date, 2) 25,452 shares of common stock to non-employee directors on June 1, 2012 (1,818 shares per director), at a fair market value of $8.86 per share, which was the closing price of the Company’s common stock on that date, 3) 40,000 shares of restricted stock to the chief executive officer on August 28, 2012, at a fair market value of $9.76 per share, which was the closing price of the Company’s common stock on that date, and 4) 75,000 stock options to the chief executive officer on August 28, 2012, at a fair value of $3.65 per share on the date of the grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model with the following assumptions:

	2012
Expected dividend yield	3.28%
Risk-free interest rate	1.64%
Expected life	10 years
Expected volatility	41.82%

The Company’s equity grants for the year ended December 31, 2011 were the issuance of 1) 7,259 shares of long-term restricted stock to certain senior executives on February 24, 2011, at a fair market value of $14.54 per share, which was the closing price of the Company’s common stock on that date, and 2) 21,210 shares of common stock to non-employee directors on June 1, 2011 (1,414 shares per director), at a fair market value of $11.39 per share, which was the closing price of the Company’s common stock on that date.

The Company recorded total stock-based compensation expense of $311,000, $905,000 and $640,000 for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011, and 2010, respectively. Of the $311,000 in expense that was recorded in 2012, approximately $226,000 related to the June 1, 2012 director grants, which is classified as “other operating expenses” in the Consolidated Statements of Income (Loss). The remaining $85,000 in expense relates the employee grants discussed above and is recorded as “salaries expense.” Stock based compensation is reflected as an adjustment to cash flows from operating activities on the Company’s Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows. The Company recognized $121,000, $353,000, and $250,000 of income tax benefits related to stock based compensation expense in the income statement for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011, and 2010, respectively.

As noted above, certain of the Company’s stock option grants contain terms that provide for a graded vesting schedule whereby portions of the award vest in increments over the requisite service period. The Company has elected to recognize compensation expense for awards with graded vesting schedules on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period for the entire award. Compensation expense is based on the estimated number of stock options and awards that will ultimately vest. Over the past five years, there have only been minimal amounts of forfeitures, and therefore the Company assumes that all options granted without performance conditions will become vested.

The following table presents information regarding the activity since December 31, 2009 related to all of the Company’s stock options outstanding:

	Options Outstanding
	Number of Shares			Weighted- Average Exercise Price		Weighted- Average Contractual Term (years)		Aggregate Intrinsic Value
Balance at December 31, 2009		753,100		$	17.73
Granted		—			—
Exercised		(18,667	)		10.46			$	97,940
Forfeited		(87,536	)		16.53
Expired		(4,500	)		15.69
Balance at December 31, 2010		642,397		$	18.11
Granted		—			—
Exercised		(2,300	)		13.30			$	6,949
Forfeited		—			—
Expired		(146,247	)		15.47
Balance at December 31, 2011		493,850		$	18.92
Granted		75,000			9.76
Exercised		—			—
Forfeited		—			—
Expired		(47,237	)		16.70
Outstanding at December 31, 2012		521,613		$	17.80		3.9	$	218,625
Exercisable at December 31, 2012		445,613		$	19.15		2.9	$	—

The Company received $0, $30,000, and $171,000 as a result of stock option exercises during the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011, and 2010, respectively. The Company recorded no tax benefits from the exercise of nonqualified stock options during the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011. The Company recorded $36,000 in associated tax benefits from the exercise of nonqualified stock options during the year ended December 31, 2010.

The following table summarizes information about the stock options outstanding at December 31, 2012:

	Options Outstanding						Options Exercisable
Range of Exercise Prices	Number Outstanding at 12/31/12		Weighted- Average Remaining Contractual Life		Weighted- Average Exercise Price		Number Exercisable at 12/31/12		Weighted- Average Exercise Price
$8.85 to $11.06		75,000		9.7	$	9.76		—	$	—
$11.06 to $13.27		—		—		—		—		—
$13.27 to $15.48		27,000		6.4		14.35		27,000		14.35
$15.48 to $17.70		164,384		3.7		16.61		164,384		16.61
$17.70 to $19.91		56,250		2.7		19.65		56,250		19.65
$19.91 to $22.12		198,979		1.9		21.76		197,979		21.77
		521,613		3.9	$	17.80		445,613	$	19.15

The following table presents information regarding the activity during 2010, 2011, and 2012 related to the Company’s outstanding performance units and restricted stock:

	Nonvested Performance Units					Long-Term Restricted Stock
	Number of Units			Weighted- Average Grant-Date Fair Value		Number of Units			Weighted- Average Grant-Date Fair Value
Nonvested at December 31, 2009		54,225		$	16.53		29,267		$	13.59
Granted during the period		—			—		—			—
Vested during the period		—			—		—			—
Forfeited or expired during the period		(27,112	)		16.53		—			—
Nonvested at December 31, 2010		27,113		$	16.53		29,267		$	13.59
Granted during the period		—			—		7,259			14.54
Vested during the period		(27,022	)		16.53		(29,267	)		13.59
Forfeited or expired during the period		(91	)		16.53		—			—
Nonvested at December 31, 2011		—		$	—		7,259		$	14.54
Granted during the period		—			—		49,559		$	9.99
Vested during the period		—			—		—			—
Forfeited or expired during the period		—			—		(2,474	)		12.55
Nonvested at December 31, 2012		—		$	—		54,344		$	10.48