PRIMIS FINANCIAL CORP.

FORM 10-K

TABLE OF CONTENTS

​

​

​

​

CAUTIONARY NOTE 

REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

​

This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains statements about future expectations, activities and events that constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of, and subject to the protection of, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Exchange Act and are intended to be covered by the safe harbor provided by the same. Forward-looking statements are not historical facts and are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about our industry, management’s beliefs and certain assumptions made by management, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and beyond our control, particularly with regard to developments related to the novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”) and the related variants.control. Accordingly, we caution you that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, assumptions and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable as of the date made, actual results may prove to be materially different from the results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. The words “believe,” “may,”  “forecast,” “should,” “anticipate,” “contemplate,” “estimate,” “expect,” “project,” “predict,” “intend,” “continue,” “would,” “could,” “hope,” “might,” “assume,” “objective,” “seek,” “plan,” “strive” or similar words, or the negatives of these words, identify forward-looking statements.

​

Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual results to differ materially from the expectations of future results we express or imply in any forward-looking statements. In addition to the other factors discussed in the “Risk Factors” section of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, factors that could contribute to those differences include, but are not limited to:

​

Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance or results and should not be relied upon as representing management’s views as of any subsequent date. A forward-looking statement may include a statement of the assumptions or bases underlying the forward-looking statement. We believe we have chosen these assumptions or bases in good faith and that they are reasonable. We caution you, however, that assumptions or bases almost always vary from actual results, and the differences between assumptions or bases and actual results can be material. When considering forward-looking statements, you should refer to the risk factors and other cautionary statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and in our periodic and current reports filed with the SEC for specific factors that could cause our actual results to be different from those expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements. These statements speak only as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K (or an earlier date to the extent applicable). Except as required by applicable law, we undertake no obligation to update publicly these statements in light of new information or future events.

​

​

PART I

Item 1. Business

Overview

On March 31, 2021, Southern National Bancorp of Virginia, Inc. (“Southern National”) changed its name to Primis Financial Corp. (“Primis,” “we,” “us,” “our” or the “Company”) and Sonabank changed its name to Primis Bank. Primis is the bank holding company for Primis Bank (“Primis Bank” or the “Bank”), a Virginia state-chartered bank which commenced operations on April 14, 2005. Primis Bank provides a range of financial services to individuals and small and medium-sized businesses. As of December 31, 2021,2022, Primis had $3.40$3.57 billion in total assets, $2.34$2.95 billion in total loans, $2.76$2.72 billion in total deposits and $411.9$394.4 million in total stockholders’ equity. At December 31, 2021,2022, Primis Bank had fortythirty-two full-service branches in Virginia and Maryland and also provides services to customers through certain online and mobile applications. Thirty-fiveThirty full-service retail branches are in Virginia and fivetwo full-service retail branches are in Maryland. The Company is headquartered in McLean, Virginia and has administrative offices in Warrenton,Tysons Corner, Virginia and Glen Allen, Virginia and an operations center in Atlee, Virginia. Our deposits are insured, up to applicable limits, by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the “FDIC”). Primis Bank also owns Primis Mortgage Company, a residential mortgage lender.

​

We make our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act available free of charge on our website at www.primisbank.com as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with the SEC. These reports are also available without charge on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

​

Strategy

​

Primis is focused on building a new, innovative, and better banking experience for its consumers and small and medium-sized businesses. The bank intends to grow its business, expand its customer base and improve profitability. This is being achieved through a seven-pronged approach:

​

Critical to executing this approach:

​

​

​

​

​

​

BANKING SERVICES

​

Our principal business is the acquisition of deposits from the general public through our branch offices and deposit intermediaries and the use of these deposits to fund our loan and investment security portfolios. We seek to be a full service bank that provides a wide variety of financial services to our middle market corporate clients as well as to our retail clients. We are an active commercial lender, and also invest funds in mortgage-backed securities, collateralized mortgage obligations, securities issued by agencies of the federal government and obligations of states and political subdivisions.

Lending Activities Overview

​

Primis offers a wide range of commercial banking services; however, we are focused on making loans secured primarily by commercial real estate and other types of secured and unsecured commercial loans to small and medium-sized businesses in a number of industries, as well as loans to individuals for a variety of purposes, including home equity lines of credit. We are a Small Business Administration (“SBA”) lender with Preferred Lending Partner (“PLP”) status that allows us to offer this program nationwide. We also invest in real estate-related securities, including collateralized mortgage obligations and agency mortgage backed securities. Our principal sources of funds for loans and investing in securities are deposits and, to a lesser extent, borrowings.

The following is a discussion of each of the major types of lending in which we engage. For more information on our lending activities, see “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition.”

on sufficient income from the properties securing the loans to cover operating expenses and debt service. Owner occupied real estate is evaluated in conjunction with the operations of the business.

Construction LendingLending.. Primis provides construction loans for commercial, multi-family, assisted living and other non-residential properties, and builder/developer lines for established companies in our market footprint. Construction loan borrowers are generally pre-qualified for the permanent loan by us or a third party.

Secured Asset Based Lending (SABL). Primis has developed a proprietary Asset Based Lending software system that allows the Bank to monitor the collateral of its commercial borrowers who have pledged their working assets (accounts receivables and other qualifying assets such as inventory) as collateral. SABL has the ability to track other offsets (liabilities, e.g. other loans the customer has with the Bank) to the line of credit. SABL serves to provide more stringent controls and supervision that this type of lending requires.

SBA Lending. Primis has developed expertise in the federally guaranteed SBA programs. The SBA programs provide economic development programs which finance start-up and expansion of small businesses. We are a nationwide Preferred Lender. As an SBA Preferred Lender, our pre-approved status allows us to quickly respond to customers’ needs. Under the SBA program, we generally originate and fund SBA 7(a) and 504 loans. Benefits to Primis are low LTV commercial loans and government guarantees up to 80%.

Panacea Practice Solutions. Primis, through its Panacea division, provides financing for medical, dental and veterinary businesses. Financing purposes cover a range of needs in this sector to include acquisition, start-up, expansion, real estate purchase and refinance, leasehold, equipment financing, as well as practice buy-ins.

Mortgage Warehouse Lending. Primis provides warehouse lending lines of credit to residential mortgage originators. Program parameters and underwriting guidelines are processed and monitored through our Warehouse Loan System (WLS) to ensure program compliance.

Consumer Lending

​

Primis offers various types of secured and unsecured consumer loans. We make consumer loans primarily for personal, family or household purposes.

Residential Mortgage. Primis does not currently originate permanentoriginates residential mortgage loans.loans for its portfolio through Primis will purchaseMortgage Company. Primis also purchases originated residential mortgages from our Warehouse Line clients, as well as other loan pools. We have no sub-prime loans.

Southern Trust Mortgage. Primis Bank previously had an interest in one mortgage company, Southern Trust Mortgage, LLC (“STM”). Prior to December 31, 2021, Primis Bank owned 43.28% and 100% of STM’s common and preferred stock, respectively. On September 23, 2021, Primis Bank announced that it entered into an agreement with STM, whereby STM agreed to purchase all of the Bank's common membership interests and a portion of the Bank's preferred interests in STM for a combination of $1.6 million in cash and a promissory note for $8.5 million. The transaction closed on December 31, 2021. Upon closing, STM continues to be a borrower of the Bank, but the Bank is no longer a minority owner of STM

Because future loan losses are so closely intertwined with our underwriting policy, we have instituted what management believes is a stringent loan underwriting policy. Our underwriting guidelines are tailored for particular credit types, including lines of credit, revolving credit facilities, demand loans, term loans, equipment loans, real estate loans, SBA loans, stand-by letters of credit and unsecured loans. We have instituted a no exceptions policy for our consumer credit programs.

​

Deposit Activities Overview

​

We offer a broad range of deposit products, including checking, NOW, savings, and money market accounts and certificates of deposit, supporting the needs of businesses and individuals. We actively pursue business relationships by utilizing the business contacts of our senior management, other bank officers and our directors, thereby capitalizing on our knowledge of our local market areas.

Commercial deposit products are enhanced by a robust suite of treasury and cash management services, including:

​

Other products and services offered by the Bank include: Debit cards, ATM services, notary services, and wire transfer.

​

Lines of Businesses

​

Panacea Financial. In November 2020, the Company launched the Panacea Financial division, which focuses on providing unique financial products and services for the medical, community.dental and veterinary communities. Panacea offers personal loans, student debt refinance commercial real estate and practice loans as well as deposit products nationally. In 2021, Panacea announcedhas partnerships with threefourteen national and state medical associations. Additionally, Panacea launched its In-Training Medical/Dental School Loan Refinance product which allows physicians and dentists that are in training the opportunity to refinance their student debt at a lower interest rate, while benefiting from affordable monthly payments during training. As of December 31, 2021,2022, Panacea had approximately $50.2$248.4 million in outstanding loans, the majority of which were originated in the second half of 2021.loans. The division has successfully built a nationally-recognized brand and finished 20212022 with a growing team of industry-leading commercial bankers experienced in providing financial services to the medical communityits target communities across the United States.

Life Premium Financing. The Company launched a division in the fourth quarter of 2021 focussedfocused on financing life insurance premiums for high net worth individuals across the United States. Within the first 45 days of operation and asAs of December 31, 2021,2022, the Life Premium Finance Division originated and closed five loans with committed balances totaling $69.4 million andhad outstanding balances, net of deferred fees, of $12.9$193.8 million. Outstanding balances on these loans grow over three to five years soyears.  Consequently, the Company is expectingexpects a sustainable growth rate in the division with each new loan originated.

Primis Mortgage Company.  On May 31, 2022, Primis Bank acquired Primis Mortgage Company (previously SeaTrust Mortgage Company), a regional residential mortgage company headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina. Primis Mortgage Company has since expanded to offer residential mortgages in the majority of the U.S.  Residential mortgage loans originated through Primis Mortgage Company are primarily sold in the secondary market for fee income. As of December 31, 2022, Primis Mortgage originated $294.9 million loans.

Digital Banking

​

In the fourth quarter of 2021,2022, Primis successfully launched its new digital bank platform to friends and family of the Bank.platform. The platform includes an all-new mobile banking application that provides a quick and seamless account opening process all from within the app. Additional build-out of the digital banking application is in testing and the Bank anticipates a full launch to the public in near future.

Also in the fourth quarter of 2021, Primis launched its new V1BE service, the first bank delivery app for on-demand ordering of branch services. V1BE brings in-branch banking services right to the customer’s doorstep, including cash delivery/withdrawals, cash pick-up/deposits, check deposits, change orders, cashier checks, and the instant issue of replacement debit cards. In August 2021, V1BE was initially piloted in the Richmond market and asbut now covers the majority of December 2021,our footprint, including the service expanded into Northern Virginia.greater Washington, D.C. region. With V1BE, Primis is able to support any market and grow customer relationships without the need for a large branch presence.

Funding and Revenue Sources

The principal sources of funds for our lending and investment activities are deposits, repayment of loans, prepayments from mortgage-backed securities, repayments of maturing investment securities, Federal Home Loan Bank (“FHLB”) advances and other borrowed money.

Principal sources of revenue are interest and fees on loans and investment securities as well as fee income derived from the maintenance of deposit accounts and income from bank-owned life insurance policies. Our principal expenses include interest paid on deposits, advances from the FHLB of Atlanta, junior subordinated debt, senior subordinated notes and other borrowings, and operating expenses.

CREDIT ADMINISTRATION

Because future loan losses are so closely intertwined with our underwriting policy, we have instituted what management believes are well-defined loan underwriting criteria and portfolio management practices. Our underwriting guidelines are tailored for particular credit types, including lines of credit, revolving credit facilities, demand loans, term

loans, equipment loans, real estate loans, SBA loans, stand-by letters of credit and unsecured loans. We will make extensions of credit based, among other factors, on the potential borrower’s creditworthiness and likelihood of repayment.

match on a Health Savings Account. In addition to dental insurance, supplemental insurance and a 401k, Primis offers employer paid short-term and long-term disability and life insurance. Our employees also enjoy a cash incentive for participating in our Wellness Program.

​

Supervision, regulation, and examination of Primis, the Bank, and our respective subsidiaries by the appropriate regulatory agencies, as described herein, are intended primarily for the protection of consumers, bank depositors and the Deposit Insurance Fund (“DIF”) of The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) and the U.S. banking and financial system, rather than holders of our capital stock.

Bank Holding Company Regulation

​

Primis is subject to extensive supervision and regulation by the Federal Reserve System pursuant to the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended (the “Bank Holding Company Act”). We are required to file with the Federal Reserve periodic reports and such other information as the Federal Reserve may request.  Ongoing supervision is provided through regular examinations by the Federal Reserve and other means that allow the regulators to gauge management’s ability to identify, assess and control risk in all areas of operations in a safe and sound manner and to ensure compliance with laws and regulations. In addition to regulation by the Federal Reserve as a bank holding company, Primis is subject to supervision and regulation by the VBFI under the banking and general business corporation laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

​

Activity Limitations.  Primis is registered with the Federal Reserve as a bank holding company. Bank holding companies generally are limited to the business of banking, managing or controlling banks, and other activities that the Federal Reserve determines to be closely related to banking, or managing or controlling banks as to be a proper incident thereto. Bank holding companies are prohibited from acquiring or obtaining control of more than five percent (5%) of the outstanding voting interests of any company that engages in activities other than those activities permissible for bank holding companies. Examples of activities that the Federal Reserve has determined to be permissible are making, acquiring, brokering, or servicing loans; leasing personal property; providing certain investment or financial advice; performing certain data processing services; acting as agent or broker in selling credit life insurance and other insurance products in certain locations; and performing certain insurance underwriting activities. The Bank Holding Company Act does not place geographic limits on permissible non-banking activities of bank holding companies. Even with respect to permissible activities, however, the Federal Reserve has the power to order a holding company or its subsidiaries to terminate any activity or its control of any subsidiary when the Federal Reserve has reasonable cause to believe that continuation of such activity or control of such subsidiary would pose a serious risk to the financial safety, soundness or stability of any bank subsidiary of that holding company.

Source of Strength Obligations.  A bank holding company is required to act as a source of financial and managerial strength to its subsidiary bank. The term “source of financial strength” means the ability of a company, such as us, that directly or indirectly owns or controls an insured depository institution, such as the Bank, to provide financial assistance to such insured depository institution in the event of financial distress.  The appropriate federal banking agency for the depository institution (in the case of the Bank, this agency is the Federal Reserve) may require reports from us to assess our ability to serve as a source of strength and to enforce compliance with the source of strength requirements by requiring us to provide financial assistance to the Bank in the event of financial distress.  If we were to enter bankruptcy or become subject to the orderly liquidation process established by the Dodd-Frank Act, any commitment by us to a federal bank regulatory agency to maintain the capital of the Bank would be assumed by the bankruptcy trustee or the FDIC, as appropriate, and entitled to a priority of payment. In addition, the FDIC provides that any insured depository institution generally will be liable for any loss incurred by the FDIC in connection with the default of, or any assistance provided by the FDIC to, a commonly controlled insured depository institution. The Bank is an FDIC-insured depository institution and thus subject to these requirements.

​

Acquisitions. The Bank Holding Company Act requires every bank holding company to obtain the prior approval of the Federal Reserve or waiver of such prior approval before it (1) acquires ownership or control of any voting shares of any bank if, after such acquisition, such bank holding company will own or control more than five percent (5%) of the voting shares of such bank, (2) acquires all of the assets of a bank, or (3) merges with any other bank holding company. In reviewing a proposed covered acquisition, among other factors, the Federal Reserve considers (1) the financial and managerial resources of the companies involved, including pro forma capital ratios; (2) the risk to the stability of the United States banking or financial system; (3) the convenience and needs of the communities to be served, including performance under the CRA; and (4) the effectiveness of the companies in combatting money laundering. The Federal Reserve also reviews any indebtedness to be incurred by a bank holding company in connection with a proposed acquisition

to ensure that the bank holding company can service such indebtedness without adversely affecting its ability to serve as a source of strength to its bank subsidiaries. Well capitalized and well managed bank holding companies are permitted to acquire control of banks in any state, subject to federal regulatory approval, without regard to whether such a transaction is prohibited by the laws of any state. However, a bank holding company may not, following an interstate acquisition, control more than 10% of nationwide insured deposits or 30% of deposits within any state in which the acquiring bank operates.

​

Change in Control.  Federal law restricts the amount of voting stock of a bank holding company or a bank that a person (including an entity) may acquire without the prior approval of banking regulators. Under the federal Change in Bank Control Act and the regulations thereunder, a person or group must give advance notice to and obtain approval from the Federal Reserve before acquiring control of any bank holding company, such as Primis. The Change in Bank Control Act creates a rebuttable presumption of control if a person or group acquires the power to vote 10% or more of our outstanding common stock. The overall effect of such laws is to make it more difficult to acquire a bank holding company andor a bank by tender offer or similar means than it might be to acquire control of another type of corporation. Consequently, shareholders of the Company may be less likely to benefit from the rapid increases in stock prices that may result from tender offers or similar efforts to acquire control of other companies. Investors should be aware of these requirements when acquiring shares of our stock.

​

Virginia Law.  Certain state corporation laws may have an anti-takeover affect. Virginia law restricts transactions between a Virginia corporation and its affiliates and potential acquirers. The following discussion summarizes the two Virginia statutes that may discourage an attempt to acquire control of Primis.

Virginia Code Sections 13.1-725 – 727.1 govern “Affiliated Transactions.” These provisions, with several exceptions discussed below, require approval by the holders of at least two-thirds of the remaining voting shares of material acquisition transactions between a Virginia corporation and any holder of more than 10% of any class of its outstanding voting shares. Affiliated Transactions include mergers, share exchanges, material dispositions of corporate assets not in the ordinary course of business, any dissolution of the corporation proposed by or on behalf of an interested shareholder, or any reclassification, including a reverse stock split, recapitalization, or merger of the corporation with its subsidiaries which increases the percentage of voting shares owned beneficially by any 10% shareholder by more than 5%.

These provisions were designed to deter certain takeovers of Virginia corporations. In addition, the statute provides that, by affirmative vote of a majority of the voting shares other than shares owned by any 10% shareholder, a corporation can adopt an amendment to its articles of incorporation or bylaws providing that the Affiliated Transactions provisions shall not apply to the corporation. Primis “opted out” of the Affiliated Transactions provisions when it incorporated.

Virginia law also provides that shares acquired in a transaction that would cause the acquiring person’s voting strength to meet or exceed any of the three thresholds (20%, 33.33% or 50%) have no voting rights for those shares exceeding that threshold, unless granted by a majority vote of shares not owned by the acquiring person. This provision empowers an acquiring person to require the Virginia Corporation to hold a special meeting of shareholders to consider the matter within 50 days of the request. Primis also “opted out” of this provision at the time of its incorporation.

Governance and Financial Reporting Obligations. We are required to comply with various corporate governance and financial reporting requirements under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as well as rules and regulations adopted by the SEC, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, and NASDAQ. In particular, we are required to include management and independent registered public accounting firm reports on internal controls as part of our Annual Report on Form 10-K in order to comply with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We have evaluated our controls, including compliance with the SEC rules on internal controls, and have and expect to continue to spend significant amounts of time and money on compliance with these rules. Our failure to comply with these internal control rules may materially adversely affect our reputation, ability to obtain the necessary certifications to financial statements, and the values of our securities.

​

Corporate Governance.  The Dodd-Frank Act addressed many investor protections, corporate governance, and executive compensation matters that will affect most U.S. publicly traded companies. The Dodd-Frank Act (1) granted shareholders of U.S. publicly traded companies an advisory vote on executive compensation; (2) enhanced independence

requirements for Compensation Committee members; and (3) required companies listed on national securities exchanges to adopt incentive-based compensation claw-back policies for executive officers.

​

Incentive Compensation. The Dodd-Frank Act required the banking agencies and the SEC to establish joint rules or guidelines for financial institutions with more than $1.0 billion in assets, such as Primis and the Bank, which prohibit incentive compensation arrangements that the agencies determine to encourage inappropriate risks by the institution. The federal banking agencies issued proposed rules in 2011 and previously issued guidance on sound incentive compensation policies. In 2016, the federal banking agencies also proposed rules that would, depending upon the assets of the institution, directly regulate incentive compensation arrangements and would require enhanced oversight and recordkeeping. As of December 31, 2021,2022, these rules have not been implemented. We and Primis Bank have undertaken efforts to ensure that our incentive compensation plans do not encourage inappropriate risks, consistent with three key principles—that incentive compensation arrangements should appropriately balance risk and financial rewards, be compatible with effective controls and risk management, and be supported by strong corporate governance. On October 26, 2022, the SEC adopted final rules to implement Section 954 of the Dodd-Frank Act that require public companies to adopt and disclose a policy for the recovery of incentive-based compensation received by current or former executive officers that is based on erroneously reported financial information in the event of a required accounting restatement. The rules also require disclosure of the policy, including filing the policy as an exhibit to annual reports on Form 10-K and additional disclosure in the event an accounting restatement is required and recovery is triggered under the policy. The stock exchanges have up to 90 days after publication of the rules in the Federal Register to submit proposed listing standards to the SEC for approval, and the proposed listing standards must be effective no later than one year after the publication date.  Following the effective date of the new listing standards, public companies will have 60 days to adopt the required clawback policy.

​

Shareholder Say-On-Pay Votes. The Dodd-Frank Act requires public companies to take shareholders’ votes on proposals addressing compensation (known as say-on-pay), the frequency of a say-on-pay vote, and the golden parachutes available to executives in connection with change-in-control transactions. Public companies must give shareholders the opportunity to vote on the compensation at least every three years and the opportunity to vote on frequency at least every six years, indicating whether the say-on-pay vote should be held annually, biennially, or triennially.

​

Anti-tying rules.  A bank holding company and its subsidiaries are prohibited from engaging in certain tying arrangements in connection with extensions of credit, leases or sales of property, or furnishing of services.

​

Capital Requirements

​

Primis and the Bank are each required under federal law to maintain certain minimum capital levels based on ratios of capital to total assets and capital to risk-weighted assets. The required capital ratios are minimums, and the federal banking agencies may determine that a banking organization, based on its size, complexity or risk profile, must maintain a higher level of capital in order to operate in a safe and sound manner. Risks such as concentration of credit risks and the risk arising from non-traditional activities, as well as the institution’s exposure to a decline in the economic value of its capital due to changes in interest rates, and an institution’s ability to manage those risks are important factors that are to be taken into account in assessing an institution’s overall capital adequacy. The following is a brief description of the relevant provisions of these capital rules and their potential impact on our capital levels.

Primis and the Bank are each subject to the following risk-based capital ratios: a common equity Tier 1 ("CET1") risk-based capital ratio, a Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio, which includes CET1 and additional Tier 1 capital, and a total risk-based capital ratio, which includes Tier 1 and Tier 2 capital.  CET1 is primarily comprised of the sum of common stock instruments and related surplus net of treasury stock, plus retained earnings and certain qualifying minority interests, less certain adjustments and deductions, including with respect to goodwill, intangible assets, mortgage servicing assets and deferred tax assets subject to temporary timing differences. Additional Tier 1 capital is primarily comprised of noncumulative perpetual preferred stock, tier 1 minority interests and grandfathered trust preferred securities. Tier 2 capital consists of instruments disqualified from Tier 1 capital, including qualifying subordinated debt, other preferred stock and certain hybrid capital instruments, and a limited amount of loan loss reserves up to a maximum of 1.25% of risk-weighted assets, subject to certain eligibility criteria. The capital rules also define the risk-weights assigned to assets and off-balance sheet items to determine the risk-weighted asset components of the risk-based capital rules, including, for example, certain “high volatility” commercial real estate, past due assets, structured securities and equity holdings.

The leverage capital ratio, which serves as a minimum capital standard, is the ratio of Tier 1 capital to quarterly average total consolidated assets net of goodwill, certain other intangible assets, and certain required deduction items. The required minimum leverage ratio for all banks is 4%.

In addition, effective January 1, 2019, the capital rules require a capital conservation buffer of CET1 of 2.5% above each of the minimum capital ratio requirements (CET1, Tier 1, and total risk-based capital), which is designed to absorb losses during periods of economic stress. These buffer requirements must be met for a bank or bank holding company to

qualifying community banking organization elects to use the CBLR framework, it will be considered “well-capitalized” so long as its CBLR is greater than 9%. Primis does not use the CBLR framework.

Payment of Dividends

Primis is a legal entity separate and distinct from the Bank and other subsidiaries.  Its primary source of cash, other than securities offerings, is dividends from the Bank. Under the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, no dividends may be paid by an insured bank if the bank is in arrears in the payment of any insurance assessment due to the FDIC.  The payment of

compliance, management policies, procedures and practices and other aspects of operations. The Federal Reserve has adopted the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council’s (“FFIEC”) rating system and assigns each financial institution a confidential composite rating based on an evaluation and rating of six essential components of an institution’s financial condition and operations, including Capital Adequacy, Asset Quality, Management, Earnings, Liquidity and Sensitivity to Market Risk, as well as the quality of risk management practices.  

​

Consumer Protection. The Dodd-Frank Act established the CFPB, an independent regulatory authority housed within the Federal Reserve having centralized authority, including examination and enforcement authority, for consumer

Anti-Money Laundering.  A continued focus of governmental policy relating to financial institutions in recent years has been combating money laundering and terrorist financing. The USA PATRIOT Act broadened the application of anti-money laundering regulations to apply to additional types of financial institutions such as broker-dealers, investment advisors and insurance companies, and strengthened the ability of the U.S. Government to help prevent, detect and prosecute international money laundering and the financing of terrorism. The principal provisions of Title III of the USA PATRIOT Act require that regulated financial institutions, including state member banks: (i) establish an anti-money laundering program that includes training and audit components; (ii) comply with regulations regarding the verification of the identity of any person seeking to open an account; (iii) take additional required precautions with non-U.S. owned accounts; and (iv) perform certain verification and certification of money laundering risk for their foreign correspondent banking relationships. Failure of a financial institution to comply with the USA PATRIOT Act’s requirements could have serious legal and reputational consequences for the institution. Primis Bank has augmented its systems and procedures to meet the requirements of these regulations and will continue to revise and update its policies, procedures and controls to reflect changes required by law.

FinCEN has adopted rules that require financial institutions to obtain beneficial ownership information with respect to legal entities with which such institutions conduct business, subject to certain exclusions and exemptions. Bank regulators are focusing their examinations on anti-money laundering compliance, and we continue to monitor and augment, where necessary, our anti-money laundering compliance programs.

the Federal Reserve issued an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking that would modernize and substantially revise the regulations implementing the CRA. The Bank has a rating of “Satisfactory” in its most recent CRA evaluation.

On May 5, 2022, the OCC, FRB, and FDIC issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to provide for a coordinated approach to modernize their respective CRA regulations, such that all banks will be subject to the same set of CRA rules. No final rule has been issued, but the rulemaking may affect the Bank’s CRA compliance obligations in the future.

Consumer Regulation. Activities of the Bank are subject to a variety of statutes and regulations designed to protect consumers. These laws and regulations include, among numerous other things, provisions that:

​

​

Mortgage Rules. Pursuant to rules adopted by the CFPB, banks that make residential mortgage loans are required to make a good faith determination that a borrower has the ability to repay a mortgage loan prior to extending such credit,

how the agencies will respond to lending discrimination, and what steps lenders might take to prevent discriminatory lending practices. The DOJ has increased its efforts to prosecute what it regards as violations of the ECOA and FHA.

​

LIBOR.  On March 15, 2022, Congress enacted the Adjustable Interest Rate (LIBOR) Act (the “LIBOR Act”) to address references to LIBOR in contracts that (i) are governed by U.S. law; (ii) will not mature before June 30, 2023; and (iii) lack fallback provisions providing for a clearly defined and practicable replacement for LIBOR. On December 16, 2022, the FRB adopted a final rule to implement the LIBOR Act by identifying benchmark rates based on SOFR (Secured Overnight Financing Rate) that will replace LIBOR in certain financial contracts after June 30, 2023.  The final rule identifies replacement benchmark rates based on SOFR to replace overnight, one-month, three-month, six-month, and 12-month LIBOR in contracts subject to the LIBOR Act.

​

Audit Reports. Insured institutions with total assets of $500 million or more must submit annual audit reports prepared by independent auditors to federal and state regulators. In some instances, the audit report of the institution’s holding company can be used to satisfy this requirement. Independent auditors must receive examination reports, supervisory agreements and reports of enforcement actions. For insured institutions with total assets of $1.0 billion or more, financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP, management’s certifications concerning responsibility for the financial statements, internal controls and compliance with legal requirements designated by the FDIC, and an attestation by the independent auditor regarding the statements of management relating to the internal controls must be submitted. For insured institutions with total assets of more than $3.0 billion, independent auditors may be required to review quarterly financial statements. The FDICIA requires that institutions with total assets of $1.0 billion or more have independent audit committees, consisting of outside directors only. The committees of insured institutions with total assets of $3.0 billion or more must include members with experience in banking or financial management, must have access to outside counsel, and must not include representatives of large customers.

The foregoing is only a brief summary of certain statutes, rules, and regulations that may affect Primis and the Bank. Numerous other statutes and regulations also will have an impact on the operations of Primis and the Bank. Supervision, regulation and examination of banks by the regulatory agencies are intended primarily for the protection of depositors, not shareholders.

​

​

​

Item 1A. Risk Factors

An investment in our common stock involves risks. The following is a description of the material risks and uncertainties that Primis Financial Corp. believes affect its business and should be considered before making an investment in our common stock. Additional risks and uncertainties that we are unaware of, or that we currently deem immaterial, also may become important factors that affect us and our business. If any of the risks described in this Annual Report on Form 10-K were to actually occur, our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected. If this were to happen, the value of our common stock could decline significantly and you could lose part or all of your investment. This Form 10-K also contains forward-looking statements that may not be realized as a result of certain factors, including, but not limited to, the risks described herein and in our other public filings with the SEC. Please refer to the section in this Form 10-K entitled “Special Cautionary Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” for additional information regarding forward-looking statements.

StrategicCredit Risks

Our business strategy includes strategic growth,We are subject to risks related to our concentration of construction and our financial conditionland development and resultscommercial real estate loans.

As of operations could be negatively affected ifDecember 31, 2022, we fail to growhad $148.7 million of construction and land development loans, or fail to manage our growth effectively.

We intend to continue pursuing a growth strategy for our business. Our prospects must be considered in light of the risks, expenses and difficulties frequently encountered by growing companies such as the continuing need for infrastructure and personnel, the time and costs inherent in integrating a series of different operations and the ongoing expense of acquiring and staffing new banks or branches. We may not be able to expand our presence in our existing markets or successfully enter new markets and any expansion could adversely affect our results of operations. Failure to manage our growth effectively could have a material adverse effect on our business, future prospects, financial condition or results of operations, and could adversely affect our ability to successfully implement our business strategy. Our ability to grow successfully will depend on a variety of factors, including the continued availability of desirable business opportunities, the competitive responses from other financial institutions in our market areas and our ability to manage our growth.

Although there can be no assurance of success or the availability of branch or financial services acquisitions in the future, we may seek to supplement our internal growth through attractive acquisitions. We cannot predict the number, size or timing of acquisitions, or whether any such acquisition will occur at all. Our acquisition efforts have traditionally focused on targeted entities in markets in which we currently operate and markets in which we believe we can compete effectively. However, as consolidation of the financial services industry continues, the competition for suitable acquisition candidates may increase and, as the number of appropriate targets decreases, the prices for potential acquisitions could increase which could reduce our potential returns, and reduce the attractiveness of these opportunities to us. We may compete with other financial services companies for acquisition opportunities, and many of these competitors have greater financial resources than we do and may be able to pay more for an acquisition than we are able or willing to pay.

​

We must respond to rapid technological changes and these changes may be more difficult or expensive than anticipated.

If competitors introduce new products and services embodying new technologies, or if new industry standards and practices emerge, our existing product and service offerings, technology and systems may become obsolete. Further, if we fail to adopt or develop new technologies or to adapt our products and services to emerging industry standards, we may lose current and future customers, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. The financial services industry is changing rapidly and in order to remain competitive, we must continue to enhance and improve the functionality and features5.0% of our products, servicesloan portfolio. Construction and technologies. These changes may be more difficult or expensive than we anticipate.

As of December 31, 2022, 40.3% of our loan portfolio was comprised of loans secured by commercial real estate, including multi-family residential loans and loans secured by farmland. As of December 31, 2022, $674.9 million, or approximately 22.9% of our total loans, were secured by single-family residential real estate. This includes $609.7 million in residential 1-4 family loans and $65.2 million in home equity lines of credit. If housing prices in our market areas do not remain strong or deteriorate, we may experience an increase in nonperforming loans, provision for credit losses and charge-offs. If we are required to liquidate the collateral securing a loan to satisfy the debt during a period of reduced real estate values, our earnings and capital could be adversely affected.

If our nonperforming assets increase, our earnings will suffer.

At December 31, 2022, our nonperforming assets (which consist of nonaccrual loans, loans past due 90 days and accruing and OREO) totaled $38.8 million, or 1.32% of total loans and OREO, which is an increase of $22.4 million, or 135.8%, compared with nonperforming assets of $16.5 million, or 0.70% of total non-covered loans and OREO at December 31, 2021. At December 31, 2020, our non-covered nonperforming assets (which consist of non-covered nonaccrual loans, loans past due 90 days and accruing and OREO) totaled $17.5 million, or 0.72% of total non-covered loans and OREO.

Economic and market conditions are unstable, and although our nonperforming assets as a percentage of total loans and OREO remains manageable, we may incur losses if there is an increase in nonperforming assets in the future. Our nonperforming assets adversely affect our net income in various ways. We do not record interest income on nonaccrual loans or OREO, thereby adversely affecting our net interest income, and increasing loan administration costs. When we take collateral in foreclosures and similar proceedings, we are required to mark the related loan to the then fair value of the collateral, which may ultimately result in a loss. We must reserve for probable losses, which is established through a current period charge to the provision for credit losses as well as from time to time, as appropriate, a write down of the value of properties in our OREO portfolio to reflect changing market values. Additionally, there are legal fees associated with the resolution of problem assets as well as carrying costs such as taxes, insurance and maintenance related to our OREO. Further, the resolution of nonperforming assets requires the active involvement of management, which can distract them from more profitable activity. Finally, an increase in the level of nonperforming assets increases our regulatory risk profile. There can be no assurance that we will not experience future increases in nonperforming assets.

If our allowance for credit losses is not adequate to cover actual loan losses, our earnings will decrease.

As a lender, we are exposed to the risk that our borrowers may not repay their loans according to the terms of these loans, and the collateral securing the payment of these loans may be insufficient to ensure repayment. We make various assumptions and judgments about the collectability of our loan portfolio, including the creditworthiness of the borrowers and the value of the real estate and other assets serving as collateral for the repayment of many of our loans. The amount of the allowance represents management's best estimate of current expected credit losses on loans considering available information, from internal and external sources, relevant to assessing collectability over the loans' contractual terms, adjusted for expected prepayments when appropriate. If our assumptions prove to be incorrect or if we experience significant loan losses, our current allowance may not be sufficient to cover actual loan losses and adjustments may be necessary to allow for different economic conditions or adverse developments in our loan portfolio. A material addition to the allowance for credit losses could cause our earnings to decrease. Due to the relatively unseasoned nature of portions of our loan portfolio, we may experience an increase in delinquencies and losses as these loans continue to mature.

In addition, federal regulators periodically review our allowance for credit losses and may require us to increase our provision for credit losses or recognize further charge-offs, based on judgments different than those of our management. Any significant increase in our allowance for credit losses or charge-offs required by these regulatory agencies would result in a decrease in net income and capital and could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

We are subject to credit quality risks and our credit policies may not be sufficient to avoid losses.

We are subject to the risk of losses resulting from the failure of borrowers, guarantors and related parties to pay interest and principal amounts on their loans. Although we maintain credit policies and credit underwriting, monitoring and

collection procedures, these policies and procedures may not prevent losses, particularly during periods in which the local, regional or national economy suffers a general decline. If borrowers fail to repay their loans, our financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected.

Interest rates on our outstanding financial instruments might be subject to change based on developments related to LIBOR, which could adversely affect our revenue, expense, and the value of our financial instruments.

​

On July 27, 2017, the FCA, which regulates LIBOR, publicly announced that it intends to stop persuading or compelling banks to submit LIBOR rates after 2021. On November 30, 2020, a joint announcement by the Board of Governors of theFederal Reserve, the FDIC, and the OCC was released and included a statement that the administrator of LIBOR has announced it will consult on its intention to cease the publication of the one week and two month USD LIBOR settings immediately following the LIBOR publication on December 31, 2021, and the remaining USD LIBOR settings immediately following the LIBOR publications on June 30, 2023. In the U.S., the Alternative Reference Rates Committee has proposed SOFR as the preferred alternative to LIBOR. SOFR is a broad measure of the cost of borrowing cash in the overnight U.S. treasury repurchase market. On December 16, 2022, the FRB adopted a final rule that implements the Adjustable Interest Rate (LIBOR) Act by identifying benchmark rates based on SOFR that will replace LIBOR in certain financial contracts after June 30, 2023. At this time, various iterations of the SOFR index are being used within the market, as are other indices such as the Bloomberg Short-Term Bank Yield index and the American Financial Exchange's AMERIBOR index. It is unclear as to the degree to which the market will adopt such non-LIBOR indices or how the industry may transition various products to an accepted alternative to LIBOR.

​

The uncertainty regarding the future of LIBOR as well as the transition from LIBOR to another benchmark rate or rates is complex and could have a range of adverse effects on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In particular, any such transition could:

​

The manner and impact of this transition, as well as the effect of these developments on our funding costs, loan, and investment and trading securities portfolios, asset liability management and business are uncertain.

The Company’s mortgage revenue is cyclical and is sensitive to the level of interest rates, changes in economic conditions, decreased economic activity, and slowdowns in the housing market, any of which could adversely impact our profits.

​

The Bank originates residential mortgage loans through Primis Mortgage Company which lends to borrowers nationwide. The success of our mortgage business is dependent upon its ability to originate loans and sell them to investors, in each case at or near current volumes. Loan production levels are sensitive to changes in the level of interest rates and changes in economic conditions. Loan production levels may suffer if we experience a slowdown in housing markets, tightening credit conditions or increasing interest rates. Any sustained period of decreased activity caused by fewer refinancing transactions, higher interest rates, housing price pressure, or loan underwriting restrictions would adversely

affect our mortgage originations and, consequently, could significantly reduce our income from mortgage activities. As a result, these conditions would also adversely affect the Company’s results of operations.

Deteriorating economic conditions may also cause home buyers to default on their mortgages. In certain cases, where the we have originated loans and sold them to investors, we may be required to repurchase loans or provide a financial settlement to investors if it is proven that the borrower failed to provide full and accurate information on, or related to, their loan application, if appraisals for such properties have not been acceptable or if the loan was not underwritten in accordance with the loan program specified by the loan investor. In the ordinary course of business, we record an indemnification reserve relating to mortgage loans previously sold based on historical statistics and loss rates. If such reserves were insufficient to cover claims from investors, such repurchases or settlements would adversely affect our results of operations.

Market Risks

Our profitability depends significantly on local economic conditions in the areas where our operations and loans are concentrated, and our geographic concentration makes us vulnerable to local weather catastrophes, public health issues, and other external events, which could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

We operate in a mixed market environment with influences from both rural and urban areas. Our profitability depends on the general economic conditions in our market areas of Northern Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Charlottesville, Northern Neck, Middle Peninsula, Richmond, Hampton Roads and the surrounding areas. Unlike larger banks that are more geographically diversified, we provide banking and financial services to clients primarily in these market areas. As of December 31, 2022, a significant portion of our commercial real estate, real estate construction and residential real estate loans were made to borrowers in our market area. The local economic conditions in this area have a significant impact on our commercial, real estate and construction and consumer loans, the ability of the borrowers to repay these loans and the value of the collateral securing these loans. In addition, if the population or income growth in these market areas slows, stops or declines, income levels, deposits and housing starts could be adversely affected and could result in the curtailment of our expansion, growth and profitability. Political conditions could also impact our earnings.

Our business is subject to interest rate risk and variations in interest rates may negatively affect our financial performance.

The majority of our assets and liabilities are monetary in nature and subject us to significant risk from changes in interest rates. These rates are highly sensitive to many factors beyond our control, including general economic conditions and the policies of the Federal Reserve and other governmental and regulatory agencies. Like most financial institutions, changes in interest rates can impact our net interest income as well as the valuation of our assets and liabilities, which is the difference between interest earned from interest-earning assets, such as loans and investment securities, and interest paid on interest-bearing liabilities, such as deposits and borrowings. We expect that we will periodically experience “gaps” in the interest rate sensitivities of our assets and liabilities, meaning that either our interest-bearing liabilities will be more sensitive to changes in market interest rates than our interest-earning assets, or vice versa. In either event, if market interest rates should move contrary to our position, this “gap” will negatively impact our earnings.

Based on our analysis of the interest rate sensitivity of our assets, an increase in the general level of interest rates may negatively affect the market value of the portfolio equity as well as negatively affect our net interest income since a majority of our assets are fixed rate loans. Additionally, an increase in interest rates may, among other things, reduce the demand for loans and our ability to originate loans as well as increase our funding costs. A decrease in the general level of interest rates may affect us through, among other things, increased prepayments on our loan and mortgage-backed securities portfolios, but also allow us to reduce funding costs. Accordingly, changes in the level of market interest rates affect our net yield on interest-earning assets, loan origination volume, loan and mortgage-backed securities portfolios, funding, and our overall results. While it is expected that the FRB will continue to increase the target federal funds rate in 2023 to combat recent inflationary trends, we are unable to predict changes in interest rates, which are affected by factors beyond our control, including inflation, deflation, recession, unemployment, money supply, and other changes in financial markets.

Although our asset liability management strategy is designed to keep our risk within acceptable parameters, it may not be able to prevent changes in interest rates from having a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

Unstable global economic conditions may have serious adverse consequences on our business, financial condition, and operations.

We are operating in an uncertain economic environment. The global credit and financial markets have experienced extreme volatility and disruptions, including severely diminished liquidity and credit availability, declines in consumer confidence declines in economic growth, increases in unemployment rates, high rates of inflation, and uncertainty about economic stability and a potential recession. The U.S. government's decisions regarding its debt ceiling and the possibility that the U.S. could default on its debt obligations may cause further interest rate increases, disrupt access to capital markets, and deepen recessionary conditions. While our management team continually monitors market conditions and economic factors, throughout our footprint, we are unable to predict the duration or severity of such conditions or factors. If conditions were to worsen nationally, regionally, or locally, then we could see a sharp increase in our total net charge-offs and also be required to significantly increase our allowance for credit losses. Furthermore, the demand for loans and our other products and services could decline. An increase in our non-performing assets and related increases in our provision for loan losses, coupled with a potential decrease in the demand for loans and other products and services, could negatively affect our business and could have a material adverse effect on our capital, financial condition, results of operations, and future growth. Our clients may also be adversely impacted by changes in regulatory, trade (including tariffs), and tax policies and laws, all of which could reduce demand for loans and adversely impact our borrowers' ability to repay our loans.

There can be no assurance that further deterioration in markets and confidence in economic conditions will not occur. Our general business strategy may be adversely affected by any such economic downturn or recession, volatile business environment, hostile third-party action, or continued unpredictable and unstable market conditions. The effects of any economic downturn or recession could continue for many years after the downturn or recession is considered to have ended.

​

Declines in asset values may result in impairment charges and adversely affect the value of our investment securities, financial performance and capital.

We maintain an investment securities portfolio that includes, but is not limited to, collateralized mortgage obligations, agency mortgage-backed securities and municipal securities. The market value of investment securities may be affected by factors other than the underlying performance of the issuer or composition of the bonds themselves, such as ratings downgrades, adverse changes in the business climate and a lack of liquidity for resales of certain investment securities. At each reporting period, we evaluate investment securities and other assets for impairment indicators. We may be required to record additional impairment charges if our investment securities suffer a decline in value that is considered other-than-temporary. During the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, we incurred no other-than-temporary impairment charges related to credit losses or sales of securities. If in future periods we determine that a significant impairment has occurred, we would be required to charge against earnings the credit-related portion of the other-than-temporary impairment, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations in the periods in which the write-offs occur.

Our stock price can be volatile.

Stock price volatility may make it more difficult for you to resell your common stock when you want and at prices you find attractive. Our stock price can fluctuate significantly in response to a variety of factors including, among other things:

General market fluctuations, industry factors and general economic and political conditions and events, such as economic slowdowns or recessions, interest rate changes or credit loss trends, could also cause our stock price to decrease regardless of operating results.

The trading volume in our common stock is less than that of other larger financial services companies.

Although our common stock is listed for trading on the NASDAQ Global Market, the trading volume is low, and you are not assured liquidity with respect to transactions in our common stock. A public trading market having the desired characteristics of depth, liquidity and orderliness depends on the presence in the marketplace of willing buyers and sellers of our common stock at any given time. This presence depends on the individual decisions of investors and general economic and market conditions over which we have no control. Given the lower trading volume of our common stock, significant sales of our common stock, or the expectation of these sales, could cause our stock price to fall.

Inflation could negatively impact our business, our profitability and our stock price.

​

Prolonged periods of inflation may impact our profitability by negatively impacting our fixed costs and expenses, including increasing funding costs and expense related to talent acquisition and retention, and negatively impacting the demand for our products and services. Additionally, inflation may lead to a decrease in consumer and client’s purchasing power and negatively affect the need or demand for our products and services. If significant inflation continues, our business could be negatively affected by, among other things, decreases in loan collateral values and increased default rates leading to credit losses which could decrease our appetite for new credit extensions. These inflationary pressures could result in missed earnings and budgetary projections causing our stock price to suffer.

​

ESG risks could adversely affect our reputation and shareholder, employee, client, and third party relationships and may negatively affect our stock price.

Our business faces increasing public scrutiny related to ESG activities. We risk damage to our brand and reputation if we fail to act responsibly in a number of areas, such as DEI, environmental stewardship, including with respect to climate change, human capital management, support for our local communities, corporate governance, and transparency, or fail to consider ESG factors in our business operations.

Furthermore, as a result of our diverse base of clients and business partners, we may face potential negative publicity based on the identity of our clients or business partners and the public’s (or certain segments of the public’s) view of those entities. Such publicity may arise from traditional media sources or from social media and may increase rapidly in size and scope. If our client or business partner relationships were to become intertwined in such negative publicity, our ability to attract and retain clients, business partners, and employees may be negatively impacted, and our stock price may also be negatively impacted. Additionally, we may face pressure to not do business in certain industries that are viewed as harmful to the environment or are otherwise negatively perceived, which could impact our growth.

Additionally, investors and shareholder advocates are placing ever increasing emphasis on how corporations address ESG issues in their business strategy when making investment decisions and when developing their investment theses and proxy recommendations. We may incur meaningful costs with respect to our ESG efforts and if such efforts are negatively perceived, our reputation and stock price may suffer.

​

​

​

OperationalMarket Risks

We relyOur profitability depends significantly on third-party vendorslocal economic conditions in the areas where our operations and loans are concentrated, and our geographic concentration makes us vulnerable to provide key components of our business infrastructure.

Third-party vendors provide key components of our business operations such as data processing, recordinglocal weather catastrophes, public health issues, and monitoring transactions, online banking interfaces and services, Internet connections and network access. We have selected these third-party vendors carefully and have conducted the due diligence consistent with regulatory guidance and best practices. While we have ongoing programs to review third-party vendors and assess risk, we do not control their actions. Any problems caused by these third parties, including those resulting from disruptions in communication services provided by a vendor, failure of a vendor to handle current or higher volumes, cyber-attacks and security breaches at a vendor, failure of a vendor to provide services for any reason or poor performance of services,other external events, which could adversely affect our ability to deliver productsresults of operations and financial condition.

We operate in a mixed market environment with influences from both rural and urban areas. Our profitability depends on the general economic conditions in our market areas of Northern Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Charlottesville, Northern Neck, Middle Peninsula, Richmond, Hampton Roads and the surrounding areas. Unlike larger banks that are more geographically diversified, we provide banking and financial services to our customers and otherwise conduct our business. Financial or operational difficulties of a third-party vendor could also hurt our operations if those difficulties interfere with the vendor’s ability to serve us. Furthermore, our vendors could also be sources of operational and information security risk to us, including from breakdowns or failures of their own systems or capacity constraints. Replacingclients primarily in these third-party vendors could also create significant delay and expense. Accordingly, use of such third parties creates an unavoidable inherent risk to our business operations.

We face significant cyber and data security risk that could result in the disclosure of confidential information, adversely affect our business or reputation and expose us to significant liabilities.

As a financial institution, we are under threat of loss due to hacking and cyber-attacks. This risk has increased in recent years, and continues to increase, as we continue to expand customer capabilities to utilize internet and other remote channels to transact business. Two of the most significant cyber-attack risks that we face are e-fraud and loss of sensitive customer data. Loss from e-fraud occurs when cybercriminals breach and extract funds directly from customer or our accounts. The attempts to breach sensitive customer data, such as account numbers and social security numbers, are less frequent but would present significant reputational, legal and/or regulatory costs to us if successful. Our risk and exposure to these matters remains heightened because of the evolving nature and complexity of these threats from cybercriminals and hackers, our plans to continue to provide internet banking and mobile banking channels, and our plans to develop additional remote connectivity solutions to serve our customers. While we have not experienced any material losses relating to cyber-attacks or other information security breaches since 2017, we have been subject of hacking and cyber-attack and there can be no assurance that we will not suffer additional losses in the future.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have modified our business practices with a portion of our employees working remotely from their homes to have our operations uninterrupted as much as possible. Technology in employees’ homes may not be as robust as in our offices and could cause the networks, information systems, applications, and other tools available to employees to be more limited or less reliable than in our offices. The continuation of these work-from-home measures also introduces additional operational risk, including increased cybersecurity risk. These cyber risks include greater phishing, malware, and other cybersecurity attacks, vulnerability to disruptions of our information technology infrastructure and telecommunications systems for remote operations, increased risk of unauthorized dissemination of confidential information, limited ability to restore the systems in the event of a systems failure or interruption, greater risk of a security breach resulting in destruction or misuse of valuable information, and potential impairment of our ability to perform critical functions, including wiring funds, all of which could expose us to risks of data or financial loss, litigation and liability and could seriously disrupt our operations and the operations of any impacted customers.

The occurrence of any cyber-attack or information security breach could result in material adverse consequences to us including damage to our reputation and the loss of customers. We also could face litigation or additional regulatory scrutiny. Litigation or regulatory actions in turn could lead to significant liability or other sanctions, including fines and penalties or reimbursement of customers adversely affected by security breach. Even if we do not suffer any material adverse consequences as a result of other future events, successful attacks or systems failures at the Bank or at other financial institutions could lead to a general loss of customer confidence in financial institutions including the Bank.

them from more profitable activity. Finally, an increase in the level of nonperforming assets increasesAlthough our regulatoryasset liability management strategy is designed to keep our risk profile. There can be no assurance that we will not experience future increases in nonperforming assets.

If our allowance for credit losses is not adequate to cover actual loan losses, our earnings will decrease.

As a lender, we are exposed to the risk that our borrowers may not repay their loans according to the terms of these loans, and the collateral securing the payment of these loans may be insufficient to ensure repayment. We make various assumptions and judgments about the collectability of our loan portfolio, including the creditworthiness of the borrowers and the value of the real estate and other assets serving as collateral for the repayment of many of our loans. The amount of the allowance represents management's best estimate of current expected credit losses on loans considering available information, from internal and external sources, relevant to assessing collectability over the loans' contractual terms, adjusted for expected prepayments when appropriate. If our assumptions prove to be incorrect or if we experience significant loan losses, our current allowancewithin acceptable parameters, it may not be sufficientable to cover actual loan losses and adjustments may be necessary to allow for different economic conditions or adverse developmentsprevent changes in our loan portfolio. A material addition to the allowance for credit losses could cause our earnings to decrease. Due to the relatively unseasoned nature of our loan portfolio, we may experience an increase in delinquencies and losses as these loans continue to mature.

In addition, federal regulators periodically review our allowance for credit losses and may require us to increase our provision for credit losses or recognize further charge-offs, based on judgments different than those of our management. Any significant increase in our allowance for credit losses or charge-offs required by these regulatory agencies could haveinterest rates from having a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

We are subject to credit quality risks and our credit policiesUnstable global economic conditions may not be sufficient to avoid losses.

We are subject to the risk of losses resulting from the failure of borrowers, guarantors and related parties to pay interest and principal amounts on their loans. Although we maintain credit policies and credit underwriting, monitoring and collection procedures, these policies and procedures may not prevent losses, particularly during periods in which the local, regional or national economy suffers a general decline. If borrowers fail to repay their loans, our financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected.

Interest rates on our outstanding financial instruments might be subject to change based on developments related to LIBOR, which could adversely affect our revenue, expense, and the value of our financial instruments.

​

On July 27, 2017, the FCA, which regulates LIBOR, publicly announced that it intends to stop persuading or compelling banks to submit LIBOR rates after 2021. On November 30, 2020, a joint announcement by the Board of Governors of theFederal Reserve, the FDIC, and the OCC was released and included a statement that the administrator of LIBOR has announced it will consult on its intention to cease the publication of the one week and two month USD LIBOR settings immediately following the LIBOR publication on December 31, 2021, and the remaining USD LIBOR settings immediately following the LIBOR publications on June 30, 2023. In the U.S., the Alternative Reference Rates Committee has proposed SOFR as the preferred alternative to LIBOR. SOFR is a broad measure of the cost of borrowing cash in the overnight U.S. treasury repurchase market. At this time, various iterations of the SOFR index are being used within the market, as are other indices such as the Bloomberg Short-Term Bank Yield index and the American Financial Exchange's AMERIBOR index. It is unclear as to the degree to which the market will adopt such non-LIBOR indices or how the industry may transition various products to an accepted alternative to LIBOR.

​

The uncertainty regarding the future of LIBOR as well as the transition from LIBOR to another benchmark rate or rates is complex and could have a range ofserious adverse effectsconsequences on our business, financial condition, and operations.

We are operating in an uncertain economic environment. The global credit and financial markets have experienced extreme volatility and disruptions, including severely diminished liquidity and credit availability, declines in consumer confidence declines in economic growth, increases in unemployment rates, high rates of inflation, and uncertainty about economic stability and a potential recession. The U.S. government's decisions regarding its debt ceiling and the possibility that the U.S. could default on its debt obligations may cause further interest rate increases, disrupt access to capital markets, and deepen recessionary conditions. While our management team continually monitors market conditions and economic factors, throughout our footprint, we are unable to predict the duration or severity of such conditions or factors. If conditions were to worsen nationally, regionally, or locally, then we could see a sharp increase in our total net charge-offs and also be required to significantly increase our allowance for credit losses. Furthermore, the demand for loans and our other products and services could decline. An increase in our non-performing assets and related increases in our provision for loan losses, coupled with a potential decrease in the demand for loans and other products and services, could negatively affect our business and could have a material adverse effect on our capital, financial condition, results of operations. In particular,operations, and future growth. Our clients may also be adversely impacted by changes in regulatory, trade (including tariffs), and tax policies and laws, all of which could reduce demand for loans and adversely impact our borrowers' ability to repay our loans.

There can be no assurance that further deterioration in markets and confidence in economic conditions will not occur. Our general business strategy may be adversely affected by any such transition could:economic downturn or recession, volatile business environment, hostile third-party action, or continued unpredictable and unstable market conditions. The effects of any economic downturn or recession could continue for many years after the downturn or recession is considered to have ended.

​

Declines in asset values may result in impairment charges and adversely affect the value of our investment securities, financial performance and capital.

We maintain an investment securities portfolio that includes, but is not limited to, collateralized mortgage obligations, agency mortgage-backed securities and municipal securities. The market value of investment securities may be affected by factors other than the underlying performance of the issuer or composition of the bonds themselves, such as ratings downgrades, adverse changes in the business climate and a lack of liquidity for resales of certain investment securities. At each reporting period, we evaluate investment securities and other assets for impairment indicators. We may be required to record additional impairment charges if our investment securities suffer a decline in value that is considered other-than-temporary. During the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, we incurred no other-than-temporary impairment charges related to credit losses or sales of securities. If in future periods we determine that a significant impairment has occurred, we would be required to charge against earnings the credit-related portion of the other-than-temporary impairment, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations in the periods in which the write-offs occur.

Our stock price can be volatile.

Stock price volatility may make it more difficult for you to resell your common stock when you want and at prices you find attractive. Our stock price can fluctuate significantly in response to a variety of factors including, among other things:

General market fluctuations, industry factors and general economic and political conditions and events, such as economic slowdowns or recessions, interest rate changes or credit loss trends, could also cause our stock price to decrease regardless of operating results.

The trading volume in our common stock is less than that of other larger financial services companies.

Although our common stock is listed for trading on the NASDAQ Global Market, the trading volume is low, and you are not assured liquidity with respect to transactions in our common stock. A public trading market having the desired characteristics of depth, liquidity and orderliness depends on the presence in the marketplace of willing buyers and sellers of our common stock at any given time. This presence depends on the individual decisions of investors and general economic and market conditions over which we have no control. Given the lower trading volume of our common stock, significant sales of our common stock, or the expectation of these sales, could cause our stock price to fall.

Inflation could negatively impact our business, our profitability and our stock price.

​

The mannerProlonged periods of inflation may impact our profitability by negatively impacting our fixed costs and impact of this transition, as well as the effect of these developments on ourexpenses, including increasing funding costs and expense related to talent acquisition and retention, and negatively impacting the demand for our products and services. Additionally, inflation may lead to a decrease in consumer and client’s purchasing power and negatively affect the need or demand for our products and services. If significant inflation continues, our business could be negatively affected by, among other things, decreases in loan collateral values and investmentincreased default rates leading to credit losses which could decrease our appetite for new credit extensions. These inflationary pressures could result in missed earnings and trading securities portfolios, asset liabilitybudgetary projections causing our stock price to suffer.

​

ESG risks could adversely affect our reputation and shareholder, employee, client, and third party relationships and may negatively affect our stock price.

Our business faces increasing public scrutiny related to ESG activities. We risk damage to our brand and reputation if we fail to act responsibly in a number of areas, such as DEI, environmental stewardship, including with respect to climate change, human capital management, support for our local communities, corporate governance, and transparency, or fail to consider ESG factors in our business operations.

Furthermore, as a result of our diverse base of clients and business partners, we may face potential negative publicity based on the identity of our clients or business partners and the public’s (or certain segments of the public’s) view of those entities. Such publicity may arise from traditional media sources or from social media and may increase rapidly in size and scope. If our client or business partner relationships were to become intertwined in such negative publicity, our ability to attract and retain clients, business partners, and employees may be negatively impacted, and our stock price may also be negatively impacted. Additionally, we may face pressure to not do business in certain industries that are uncertain.viewed as harmful to the environment or are otherwise negatively perceived, which could impact our growth.

Additionally, investors and shareholder advocates are placing ever increasing emphasis on how corporations address ESG issues in their business strategy when making investment decisions and when developing their investment theses and proxy recommendations. We may incur meaningful costs with respect to our ESG efforts and if such efforts are negatively perceived, our reputation and stock price may suffer.

​

​

​

Market Risks

Our profitability depends significantly on local economic conditions in the areas where our operations and loans are concentrated, and our geographic concentration makes us vulnerable to local weather catastrophes, public health issues, and other external events, which could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

We operate in a mixed market environment with influences from both rural and urban areas. Our profitability depends on the general economic conditions in our market areas of Northern Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Charlottesville, Northern Neck, Middle Peninsula, Richmond, Hampton Roads and the surrounding areas. Unlike larger banks that are more geographically diversified, we provide banking and financial services to clients primarily in these market areas. As of December 31, 2021, substantially all2022, a significant portion of our commercial real estate, real estate construction and residential real estate loans were made to borrowers in our market area. The local economic conditions in this area have a significant impact on our commercial, real estate and construction and consumer loans, the ability of the borrowers to repay these loans and the value of the collateral securing these loans. In addition, if the population or income growth in these market areas slows, stops or declines, income levels, deposits and housing starts could be adversely affected and could result in the curtailment of our expansion, growth and profitability. Political conditions could also impact our earnings.

Our business is subject to interest rate risk and variations in interest rates may negatively affect our financial performance.

The majority of our assets and liabilities are monetary in nature and subject us to significant risk from changes in interest rates. Fluctuations in interestThese rates are not predictable or controllable.highly sensitive to many factors beyond our control, including general economic conditions and the policies of the Federal Reserve and other governmental and regulatory agencies. Like most financial institutions, changes in interest rates can impact our net interest income as well as the valuation of our assets and liabilities, which is the difference between interest earned from interest-earning assets, such as loans and investment securities, and interest paid on interest-bearing liabilities, such as deposits and borrowings. We expect that we will periodically experience “gaps” in the interest rate sensitivities of our assets and liabilities, meaning that either our interest-bearing liabilities will be more sensitive to changes in market interest rates than our interest-earning assets, or vice versa. In either event, if market interest rates should move contrary to our position, this “gap” will negatively impact our earnings. Many factors impact interest rates, including governmental monetary policies, inflation, recession, changes in unemployment, the money supply, and international disorder and instability in domestic and foreign financial markets.

Based on our analysis of the interest rate sensitivity of our assets, an increase in the general level of interest rates may negatively affect the market value of the portfolio equity but will positivelyas well as negatively affect our net interest income since mosta majority of our assets have floating rates of interest that adjust fairly quickly to changes in market rates of interest.are fixed rate loans. Additionally, an increase in interest rates may, among other things, reduce the demand for loans and our ability to originate loans.loans as well as increase our funding costs. A decrease in the general level of interest rates may affect us through, among other things, increased prepayments on our loan and mortgage-backed securities portfolios, and increased competition for deposits.but also allow us to reduce funding costs. Accordingly, changes in the level of market interest rates affect our net yield on interest-earning assets, loan origination volume, loan and mortgage-backed securities portfolios, funding, and our overall results. While it is expected that the FRB will continue to increase the target federal funds rate in 2023 to combat recent inflationary trends, we are unable to predict changes in interest rates, which are affected by factors beyond our control, including inflation, deflation, recession, unemployment, money supply, and other changes in financial markets.

Although our asset liability management strategy is designed to controlkeep our risk from changes in market interest rates,within acceptable parameters, it may not be able to prevent changes in interest rates from having a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

General market fluctuations, industry factors and general economic and political conditions and events, such as economic slowdowns or recessions, interest rate changes or credit loss trends, could also cause our stock price to decrease regardless of operating results.

The trading volume in our common stock is less than that of other larger financial services companies.

Although our common stock is listed for trading on the NASDAQ Global Market, the trading volume is low, and you are not assured liquidity with respect to transactions in our common stock. A public trading market having the desired characteristics of depth, liquidity and orderliness depends on the presence in the marketplace of willing buyers and sellers of our common stock at any given time. This presence depends on the individual decisions of investors and general economic and market conditions over which we have no control. Given the lower trading volume of our common stock, significant sales of our common stock, or the expectation of these sales, could cause our stock price to fall.

Inflation could negatively impact our business, our profitability and our stock price.

​

Prolonged periods of inflation may impact our profitability by negatively impacting our fixed costs and expenses, including increasing funding costs and expense related to talent acquisition and retention, and negatively impacting the demand for our products and services. Additionally, inflation may lead to a decrease in consumer and client’s purchasing power and negatively affect the need or demand for our products and services. If significant inflation continues, our business could be negatively affected by, among other things, decreases in loan collateral values and increased default rates leading to credit losses which could

Operational Risks

Our business strategy includes strategic growth, and our financial performance arecondition and results of operations could be negatively affected if we fail to grow or fail to manage our growth effectively.

We intend to continue pursuing a growth strategy for our business. Our prospects must be considered in light of the risks, expenses and difficulties frequently encountered by credit policiesgrowing companies such as the continuing need for infrastructure and personnel, the time and costs inherent in integrating a series of monetary authorities, particularlydifferent operations and the Federal Reserve. The instrumentsongoing expense of monetary policy employed byacquiring and staffing new banks or branches. We may not be able to expand our presence in our existing markets or successfully enter new markets and any expansion could adversely affect our results of operations. Failure to manage our growth effectively could have a material adverse effect on our business, future prospects, financial condition or results of operations, and could adversely affect our ability to successfully implement our business strategy. Our ability to grow successfully will depend on a variety of factors, including the Federal Reserve include opencontinued availability of desirable business opportunities, the competitive responses from other financial institutions in our market transactions in U.S. government securities, changesareas and our ability to manage our growth.

Although there can be no assurance of success or the availability of branch or financial services acquisitions in the discount rate or the federal funds rate on bank borrowings and changes in reserve requirements against bank deposits. In view of changing conditions in the national economy and in the money markets,future, we may seek to supplement our internal growth through attractive acquisitions. We cannot predict the number, size or timing of acquisitions, or whether any such acquisition will occur at all. Our acquisition efforts have traditionally focused on targeted entities in markets in which we currently operate and markets in which we believe we can compete effectively. However, as consolidation of the financial services industry continues, the competition for suitable acquisition candidates may increase and, as the number of appropriate targets decreases, the prices for potential impactacquisitions could increase which could reduce our potential returns, and reduce the attractiveness of these opportunities to us. We may compete with other financial services companies for acquisition opportunities, and many of these competitors have greater financial resources than we do and may be able to pay more for an acquisition than we are able or willing to pay.

​

We must respond to rapid technological changes and these changes may be more difficult or expensive than anticipated.

If competitors introduce new products and services embodying new technologies, or if new industry standards and practices emerge, our existing product and service offerings, technology and systems may become obsolete. Further, if we fail to adopt or develop new technologies or to adapt our products and services to emerging industry standards, we may lose current and future changes in interest rates, deposit levels, and loan demandcustomers, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and earnings. results of operations. The financial services industry is changing rapidly and in order to remain competitive, we must continue to enhance and improve the functionality and features of our products, services and technologies. These changes may be more difficult or expensive than we anticipate.

New lines of business, products or services and technological advancements may subject us to additional risks.

From time to time, we implement new lines of business or offer new products and services within existing lines of business. There are substantial risks and uncertainties associated with these efforts, particularly in instances where the markets are not fully developed. In developing and marketing new lines of business and/or new products and services we invest significant time and resources. Initial timetables for the introduction and development of new lines of business and/or new products or services may not be achieved and price and profitability targets may not prove feasible. External factors, such as compliance with regulations, competitive alternatives, and shifting market preferences, may also impact the successful implementation of a new line of business or a new product or service.

The financial services industry is continually undergoing rapid technological change with frequent introductions of new technology-driven products and services. Our future success depends, in part, upon our ability to address the needs of our customers by using technology to provide products and services that will satisfy customer demands, as well as to create additional efficiencies in our operations. Many of our competitors have substantially greater resources to invest in technological improvements. We may not be able to effectively implement new technology driven products and services or be successful in marketing these products and services to our customers. In addition, our implementation of certain new technologies, such as those related to artificial intelligence, automation and algorithms, in our business processes may have unintended consequences due to their limitations or our failure to use them effectively. In addition, cloud technologies

are also critical to the operation of our systems, and our reliance on cloud technologies is growing. Failure to successfully keep pace with technological change affecting the financial services industry could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Furthermore, any new line of business, new product or service and/or new technology could have a significant impact on the effectiveness of our system of internal controls. Failure to successfully manage these risks in the development and implementation of new lines of business, new products or services and/or new technologies could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We may not be able to successfully integrate our acquisitions or to realize the anticipated benefits of them.

A successful integration of each acquired business with ours will depend substantially on our ability to successfully consolidate operations, corporate cultures, systems and procedures and to eliminate redundancies and costs. While we have substantial experience in successfully integrating institutions we have acquired, we may encounter difficulties during integration, such as:

​

,all of which could divert resources from regular banking operations.  Additionally, general market and economic conditions or governmental actions ofaffecting the U.S. government and other governmentsfinancial industry generally may inhibit our successful merger integrations.

Further, we acquire businesses with the expectation that these mergers will result in currency fluctuations, exchange controls,various benefits including, among other things, benefits relating to enhanced revenues, a strengthened market disruption, materialposition for the combined company, cross selling opportunities, technology, cost savings and operating efficiencies. Achieving the anticipated benefits of these mergers is subject to a number of uncertainties, including whether we integrate these institutions in an efficient and effective manner, and general competitive factors in the marketplace. Failure to achieve these anticipated benefits could result in a reduction in the price of our shares as well as in increased costs, decreases in the valuesamount of certainexpected revenues and diversion of management's time and energy and could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

The carrying value of goodwill and other intangible assets may be adversely affected.

When the Company completes an acquisition, goodwill and other intangible assets are often recorded on the date of acquisition as an asset. Current accounting guidance requires goodwill to be tested for impairment, and we perform such impairment analysis at least annually. A significant adverse change in expected future cash flows or sustained adverse change in the value of our common stock could require the asset to become impaired. If impaired, we would incur a charge to earnings that would have a significant impact on the results of operations. Our carrying value of goodwill and net amortizable intangibles were approximately $104.6 million and $3.3 million, respectively, at December 31, 2022.

We rely on third-party vendors to provide key components of our business infrastructure.

Third-party vendors provide key components of our business operations such as data processing, recording and monitoring transactions, online banking interfaces and services, Internet connections and network access. We have selected these third-party vendors carefully and have conducted the due diligence consistent with regulatory guidance and best practices. While we have ongoing programs to review third-party vendors and assess risk, we do not control their actions. Any problems caused by these third parties, including those resulting from disruptions in communication services provided by a vendor, failure of a vendor to handle current or higher volumes, cyber-attacks and security breaches at a vendor, failure of a vendor to provide services for any reason or poor performance of services, could adversely affect our ability

to deliver products and services to our customers and otherwise conduct our business. Financial or operational difficulties of a third-party vendor could also hurt our operations if those difficulties interfere with the vendor’s ability to serve us. Furthermore, our vendors could also be sources of operational and information security risk to us, including from breakdowns or failures of their own systems or capacity constraints. Replacing these third-party vendors could also create significant delay and expense. Accordingly, use of such third parties creates an unavoidable inherent risk to our business operations.

We face significant cyber and data security risk that could result in the disclosure of confidential information, adversely affect our business or reputation and expose us to significant liabilities.

As a financial assetsinstitution, we are under threat of loss due to hacking and cyber-attacks. This risk has increased in recent years, and continues to increase, as we continue to expand customer capabilities to utilize internet and other remote channels to transact business. Two of the most significant cyber-attack risks that we face are e-fraud and loss of sensitive customer data. Loss from e-fraud occurs when cybercriminals breach and extract funds directly from customer or our accounts. The attempts to breach sensitive customer data, such as account numbers and social security numbers, are less frequent but would present significant reputational, legal and/or regulatory costs to us if successful. Our risk and exposure to these matters remains heightened because of the evolving nature and complexity of these threats from cybercriminals and hackers, our plans to continue to provide internet banking and mobile banking channels, and our plans to develop additional remote connectivity solutions to serve our customers. While we have not experienced any material losses relating to cyber-attacks or other information security breaches, we have been subject to hacking and cyber-attack and there can be no assurance that we will not suffer additional losses in the future.

Due to changing behaviors since the COVID-19 pandemic, we have allowed a portion of our employees to work remotely from their homes on a full-time or hybrid schedule. Technology in employees’ homes may not be as robust as in our offices and could cause the networks, information systems, applications, and other tools available to employees to be more limited or less reliable than in our offices. The continuation of these work-from-home measures also introduces additional operational risk, including increased cybersecurity risk. These cyber risks include greater phishing, malware, and other cybersecurity attacks, vulnerability to disruptions of our information technology infrastructure and telecommunications systems for remote operations, increased risk of unauthorized dissemination of confidential information, limited ability to restore the systems in the event of a systems failure or interruption, greater risk of a security breach resulting in destruction or misuse of valuable information, and potential impairment of our ability to perform critical functions, including wiring funds, all of which could expose us to risks of data or financial loss, litigation and liability and could seriously disrupt our operations and the operations of any impacted customers.

The occurrence of any cyber-attack or information security breach could result in material adverse effects.

The Federal Reserve reduced ratesconsequences to near zerous including damage to our reputation and the loss of customers. We also could face litigation or additional regulatory scrutiny. Litigation or regulatory actions in March 2020 in responseturn could lead to economic disruption that occurredsignificant liability or other sanctions, including fines and penalties or reimbursement of customers adversely affected by security breach. Even if we do not suffer any material adverse consequences as a result of other future events, successful attacks or systems failures at the outsetBank or at other financial institutions could lead to a general loss of customer confidence in financial institutions including the Bank.

Our ability to mitigate the adverse consequences of occurrences is in part dependent on the quality of our information security procedures and contracts and our ability to anticipate the timing and nature of any such event that occurs. In recent years, we have incurred significant expense towards improving the reliability of our systems and their security from attack. Nonetheless, there remains the risk that we may be materially harmed by cyber-attacks and information security breaches in the future. Methods used to attack information systems change frequently (with generally increasing sophistication), often are not recognized until launched against a target, may be supported by foreign governments or other well-financed entities, and may originate from less regulated and remote areas around the world. As a result, we may be unable to address these methods in advance of attacks, including by implementing adequate preventive measures. If such an attack or breach does occur, we might not be able to fix it timely or adequately. To the extent that such an attack or breach relates to products or services provided by others, we seek to engage in due diligence and monitoring to limit the risk. In addition, as the regulatory environment related to information security, data collection and use, and privacy becomes increasingly rigorous, with new and constantly changing requirements applicable to our business, compliance with those requirements could also result in additional costs.

We are dependent on key personnel and the loss of one or more of those key personnel could impair our relationship with our customers and adversely affect our business.

Many community banks attract customers based on the personal relationships that the banks’ officers and customers establish with each other and the confidence that the customers have in the officers. We significantly depend on the continued service and performance of our key management personnel. We also believe our management team’s depth and breadth of experience in the banking industry is integral to executing our business plan. The loss of the services of members of our senior management team or other key employees or the inability to attract additional qualified personnel as needed could have a material adverse effect on our business.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has adversely impacted, and could continue to adversely impact, our business, financial condition, liquidity, capital, and results of operations.

While the level of disruption caused by, and the economic impact of, the COVID-19 pandemic which has continued into 2022. The prolonged periodlessened in 2022, there is no assurance that the pandemic will not worsen again, included as a result of low interest rates hasthe emergence of new strains of the virus, or another health related emergency will not emerge. Any worsening of the pandemic, a new health related emergency, and is expected to continue to cause downward pressuretheir effects on the economy could further impact our business, our provision and allowance for credit losses, and the value of certain assets that we carry on our net interest margin,balance sheet such as goodwill. Our clients, business partners, and third-party providers, including reduced yield on our variable rate loans and on new loans, and realized yields on investments securities. Further rate changes are dependent on the Federal Reserve’s assessment of economic data as it becomes available. We expect the Federal Reserve to raise rates more than once in the next twelve months. Historically, when the Federal Reserve Board increases the Fed Funds rate, overall interest rates have also risen, which may negatively impact the U.S. economy, and could have a negative impact onthose who perform critical services for our business, by reducing the amount of money our customers borrow or bymay also be adversely affecting their ability to repay outstanding loan balances that may increase due to adjustments in their variable rates. In addition, in a rising interest rate environment we may have to offer more attractive interest rates to depositors to compete for deposits, or pursue other sources of liquidity, such as wholesale funds. Further, when interest-bearing liabilities reprice or mature more quickly than interest-earning assets, an increase in interest rates generally would tend to result in a decrease in net interest income.  affected.

Changes in monetary policy, including changes in interest rates, could influence (i) the amount of interest we receive on loans and securities, (ii) the amount of interest we pay on deposits and borrowings, (iii) our ability to originate loans and obtain deposits, (iv) the fair value of our assets and liabilities, and (v) the reinvestment risk associated with changes in the duration of our mortgage-backed securities portfolio.

​

Liquidity Risks

Liquidity risk could impair our ability to fund operations and jeopardize our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Liquidity is essential to our business. Our ability to implement our business strategy will depend on our ability to obtain funding for loan originations, working capital, possible acquisitions and other general corporate purposes. An inability to raise funds through deposits, borrowings, securities sold under agreements to repurchase, the sale of loans and other sources could have a substantial negative effect on our liquidity. We anticipate that our retail and commercial deposits will be sufficient to meet our funding needs in the foreseeable future. We may rely on deposits obtained through intermediaries, FHLB advances, and other wholesale funding sources to obtain the funds necessary to implement our growth strategy.

Our access to funding sources in amounts adequate to finance our activities or on terms which are acceptable to us could be impaired by factors that affect us specifically or the financial services industry or economy in general, including a decrease in the level of our business activity as a result of a downturn in the markets in which our loans are concentrated or adverse regulatory action against us. Our ability to borrow could also be impaired by factors that are not specific to us, such as a disruption in the financial markets or negative views and expectations about the prospects for the financial services industry. Access to liquidity may also be negatively impacted by the value of our securities portfolio, if liquidity and/or business strategy necessitate the sales of securities in a loss position. To the extent we are not successful in obtaining such funding, we will be unable to implement our strategy as planned which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Adverse developments affecting the financial services industry, such as actual events or concerns involving liquidity, defaults or non-performance by financial institutions or transactional counterparties, could adversely affect our current and projected business operations and its financial condition and results of operations.

Actual events involving limited liquidity, defaults, non-performance or other adverse developments that affect financial institutions, transactional counterparties or other companies in the financial services industry or the financial services industry generally, or concerns or rumors about any events of these kinds or other similar risks, have in the past and may in the future lead to market-wide liquidity problems. For example, on March 10, 2023, Silicon Valley Bank, or SVB, was closed by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or the FDIC, as receiver. Similarly, on March 12, 2023, Signature Bank and Silvergate Capital Corp. were each swept into receivership. Although a statement by the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve and the FDIC stated that all depositors of SVB would have access to all of their money after only one business day of

closure, including funds held in uninsured deposit accounts, borrowers under credit agreements, letters of credit and certain other financial instruments with SVB, Signature Bank or any other financial institution that is placed into receivership by the FDIC may be unable to access undrawn amounts thereunder. If  any parties with whom we conduct business are unable to access deposits with another financial institution, funds pursuant to such instruments or lending arrangements with such a financial institution, such parties’ credit quality, ability to pay their obligations to us,  or to enter into new commercial arrangements requiring additional payments to us could be adversely affected. In this regard, counterparties to SVB credit agreements and arrangements, and third parties such as beneficiaries of letters of credit (among others), may experience direct impacts from the closure of SVB and uncertainty remains over liquidity concerns in the broader financial services industry. Additionally, confidence in the safety and soundness of regional banks specifically or the banking system generally could impact where customers choose to maintain deposits, which could materially adversely impact our liquidity, loan funding capacity, ability to raise funds, and results of operations. Similar impacts have occurred in the past, such as during the 2008-2010 financial crisis. 

Inflation and rapid increases in interest rates have led to a decline in the trading value of previously issued government securities with interest rates below current market interest rates. Although the U.S. Department of Treasury, FDIC and Federal Reserve Board have announced a program to provide up to $25 billion of loans to financial institutions secured by certain of such government securities held by financial institutions to mitigate the risk of potential losses on the sale of such instruments, widespread demands for customer withdrawals or other liquidity needs of financial institutions for immediate liquidity may exceed the capacity of such program. There is no guarantee that the U.S. Department of Treasury, FDIC and Federal Reserve Board will provide access to uninsured funds in the future in the event of the closure of other banks or financial institutions, or that they would do so in a timely fashion. 

Although we assess our funding relationships as we believe necessary or appropriate, our access to funding sources and other arrangements in amounts adequate to finance or capitalize our current and projected future business operations could be significantly impaired by factors that affect us, our customers, the financial institutions with which we have arrangements directly, or the financial services industry or economy in general. These factors could include, among others, events such as liquidity constraints or failures, the ability to perform our obligations under various types of financial, credit or liquidity agreements or arrangements, disruptions or instability in the financial services industry or financial markets, or concerns or negative expectations about the prospects for companies in the financial services industry. These factors could involve financial institutions or financial services industry companies with which we or our customers have financial or business relationships, but could also include factors involving financial markets or the financial services industry generally. 

Additionally, we could be impacted by current or future negative perceptions and expectations about the prospects for the financial services industry (including the impact of Moody’s Investors Service’s rating change of the outlook of the US banking system from “stable” to “negative”), which could worsen over time and result in downward pressure on, and continued or accelerated volatility of, bank securities.  

Capital Adequacy Risks

Future growth or operating results may require us to raise additional capital, but that capital may not be available, be available on unfavorable terms or may be dilutive.

Primis Bank is required by the FRB to maintain adequate levels of capital to support our operations. In the event that our future operating results erode capital, if the Bank is required to maintain capital in excess of well-capitalized standards, or if we elect to expand through loan growth or acquisitions, we may be required to raise additional capital. Our ability to raise capital will depend on conditions in the capital markets, which are outside our control, and on our financial performance. Accordingly, we cannot be assured of our ability to raise capital on favorable terms when needed, or at all. If we cannot raise additional capital when needed, we will be subject to increased regulatory supervision and the imposition of restrictions on our growth and business. These outcomes could negatively impact our ability to operate or further expand our operations through acquisitions or the establishment of additional branches and may result in increases in operating expenses and reductions in revenues that could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, in order to raise additional capital, we may need to issue shares of our common stock that would

dilute the book value of our common stock and reduce our current shareholders’ percentage ownership interest to the extent they do not participate in future offerings.

We may issue a new series of preferred stock or debt securities, which would be senior to our common stock and may cause the market price of our common stock to decline.

We have issued $27.0 million in aggregate principal amount of 5.875% Fixed-to-Floating Rate Subordinated Notes due January 31, 2027 and $60.0 million of fixed-to-floating rate Subordinated Notes due 2030. In the future, we may increase our capital resources by making additional offerings of debt or equity securities, which may include senior or additional subordinated notes, classes of preferred shares and/or common shares. Holders of our common stock are not entitled to preemptive rights or other protections against dilution. Preferred shares and debt, if issued, have a preference on liquidating distributions or a preference on dividend or interest payments that could limit our ability to make a distribution to the holders of our common stock. Future issuances and sales of parity preferred stock, or the perception that such issuances and sales could occur, may also cause prevailing market price for our common stock to decline and may adversely affect our ability to raise additional capital in the financial markets at times and prices favorable to us. Further issuances of our common stock could be dilutive to holders of our common stock.

We currently intend to pay dividends on our common stock; however, our future ability to pay dividends is subject to restrictions.

We declared the first cash dividend on our common stock in February 2012, and each quarter thereafter through 2021.2022. There are a number of restrictions on our ability to pay dividends. It is the policy of the FRB that bank holding companies should pay cash dividends on common stock only out of income available over the past year and only if prospective earnings retention is consistent with the organization’s expected future needs and financial condition. The policy provides that bank holding companies should not maintain a level of cash dividends that undermines the bank holding company’s ability to serve as a source of strength to its banking subsidiaries.

Our principal source of funds to pay dividends on our common stock is cash dividends that we receive from the Bank. The payment of dividends by the Bank to us is subject to certain restrictions imposed by federal banking laws, regulations and authorities. The federal banking statutes prohibit federally insured banks from making any capital distributions (including a dividend payment) if, after making the distribution, the institution would be "under capitalized" as defined by statute. In addition, the relevant federal regulatory agencies have authority to prohibit an insured bank from engaging in an unsafe or unsound practice, as determined by the agency, in conducting an activity. The payment of dividends could be deemed to constitute such an unsafe or unsound practice, depending on the financial condition of the Bank. Regulatory authorities could impose administratively stricter limitations on the ability of the Bank to pay dividends to us if such limits were deemed appropriate to preserve certain capital adequacy requirements.

​

termination of insurance on deposits, the issuance of removal and prohibition orders against institution-affiliated parties, and the enforcement of such actions through injunctions or restraining orders. The exercise of this regulatory discretion and power may have a negative impact on us.

As a regulated entity, Primis and the Bank must maintain certain required levels of regulatory capital that may limit our operations and potential growth.

As further described above under Supervision and Regulation—Capital Requirements, Primis and the Bank each are subject to various regulatory capital requirements administered by the FRB.

Failure to meet minimum capital requirements can initiate certain mandatory, and possibly additional, discretionary actions by regulators that, if undertaken, could have a direct material effect on the Bank’s and our consolidated financial statements. Under capital adequacy guidelines and the regulatory framework for prompt corrective action, the Bank must meet specific capital guidelines that involve quantitative measures of the Bank’s assets, liabilities and certain off-balance sheet commitments as calculated under these regulations.

As of December 31, 2021,2022, Primis and the Bank exceeded the amounts required to be well capitalized with respect to all four required capital ratios. As of December 31, 2021, Primis’ leverage, CET1 risk-based capital, Tier 1 risk-based capital and Total risk-based capital ratios were 9.41%9.68%, 13.09%10.30%, 13.52%10.63%, and 18.52%14.57%, respectively. As of December 31, 2021,2022, the Bank’s leverage, CET1 risk-based capital, Tier 1 risk-based capital and Total risk-based capital ratios were 11.14%11.39%, 16.18%12.64%, 16.18%12.64% and 17.43%13.84%, respectively.

Many factors affect the calculation of Primis and the Bank’s risk-based assets and its ability to maintain the level of capital required to achieve acceptable capital ratios. For example, changes in risk weightings of assets relative to capital and other factors may combine to increase the amount of risk-weighted assets in the Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio and the Total risk-based capital ratio. Any increases in its risk-weighted assets will require a corresponding increase in its capital to maintain the applicable ratios. In addition, recognized loan losses in excess of amounts reserved for such losses, loan impairments, impairment losses on investment securities and other factors will decrease the Bank’s capital, thereby reducing the level of the applicable ratios.

Primis and the Bank’s failure to remain well capitalized for bank regulatory purposes could affect customer confidence, our ability to grow, our costs of funds and FDIC insurance costs, our ability to pay dividends on our capital stock, our ability to make acquisitions, and on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Under FRB rules, if the Bank ceases to be a well-capitalized institution for bank regulatory purposes, the interest rates that it pays on deposits and its ability to accept, renew or rollover brokered deposits may be restricted. As of December 31, 2021,2022, we did not have anyhad $100.0 million of brokered certificates of deposits.

​

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments

Primis Financial Corp. does not have any unresolved staff comments from the SEC to report for the year ended December 31, 2021.2022.

Item 2. Properties

Primis Financial Corp.’s principal office is located at 6830 Old Dominion Drive, McLean, Virginia. The Company has administrative offices in Warrenton and Glen Allen, Virginia. Including these main locations, our bank owns 32 properties and leases 2017 properties, all of which are used as branch locations or for housing operational units in Maryland and Virginia. At December 31, 2021,2022, Primis Bank had fortythirty-two full-service branches in Virginia and Maryland and providesalso provided services to customers through certain online and mobile applications. Thirty-fiveThirty full-service retail branches are in Virginia (Ashland, Burgess, Callao, Central Garage, Charlottesville, Chester, Clifton Forge, Colonial Heights, Courtland, Fairfax, Front Royal, Gloucester, Gloucester Point, Hampton, Hartfield, Heathsville, Kilmarnock, Leesburg, McLean, Mechanicsville (2), Middleburg, Midlothian, New Market, Newport News, Quinton, Reston, Richmond, Surry, Tappahannock (2), Urbanna, Warrenton, Waverly, and Williamsburg) and fivetwo full-service retail branches are in Maryland (Bethesda, Brandywine, Owings, Rockville,(Rockville, and Upper Marlboro).

​

Primis believes its facilities are in good operating condition, are suitable and adequate for its operational needs and are adequately insured.

Item 3. Legal Proceedings

Primis and Primis Bank are from time to time a party, as both plaintiff and defendant, to various claims and proceedings arising in the ordinary course of the Bank’s business, including administrative and/or legal proceedings that may include employment-related claims, as well as claims of lender liability, breach of contract, and other similar lending-related claims. While the ultimate resolution of these matters cannot be determined at this time, the Bank’s management presently believes that such matters, individually and in the aggregate, will not have a material adverse effect on the Bank’s financial condition or results of operations. There are no proceedings pending, or to management’s knowledge, threatened, that represent a significant risk against Primis or Primis Bank as of December 31, 2021.2022.

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.

Not applicable.

​

​

PART II

Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Common Stock Market Prices

Primis’ common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol “FRST”. There were 24,575,83524,685,458 shares of our common stock outstanding at the close of business on March 4, 2022,6, 2023, which were held by 1,2381,212 shareholders of record. As of that date, the closing price of our common stock on the NASDAQ Global Market was $14.23.$11.56.

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities

None.

Securities Authorized for Issuance under Equity Compensation Plans

As of December 31, 2021,2022, Primis had outstanding stock options granted under the 2010 Stock Awards and Incentive Plan (the “2010 Plan”) and the 2017 Equity Compensation Plan (the “2017 Plan”), which were approved by its shareholders. The following table provides information as of December 31, 20212022 regarding Primis’ equity compensation plans under which our equity securities are authorized for issuance:

​

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

None.

Dividends

We declared the first cash dividend on our common stock in February 2012, and each quarter thereafter through 2021.2022. There are a number of restrictions on our ability to pay dividends. It is the policy of the FRB that bank holding companies should pay cash dividends on common stock only out of income available over the past year and only if prospective earnings retention is consistent with the organization’s expected future needs and financial condition. The policy provides that bank holding companies should not maintain a level of cash dividends that undermines the bank holding company’s ability to serve as a source of strength to its banking subsidiaries. Banking regulations require maintaining certain capital levels and may limit the dividends paid by the Bank to Primis or by Primis to shareholders. The Company’s ability to pay dividends to stockholders is largely dependent upon the dividends it receives from the Bank, and the Bank is subject to regulatory limitations on the amount of cash dividends it may pay.

​

​

Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

Item 7 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K generally discusses year-to-year comparisons between the years ended December 31, 20212022 and 2020.2021. Discussions of comparisons between 20202021 and 20192020 are not included in this Form10-K but can be found in “Item 7—Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in our Annual Report on Form10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020.2021.

Management’s discussion and analysis is presented to aid the reader in understanding and evaluating the financial condition and results of operations of Primis. This discussion and analysis should be read with the consolidated financial statements, the footnotes thereto, and the other financial data included in this report.

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic

​

The COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictive measures taken by governments, businesses and individuals have caused and continue to cause unprecedented uncertainty, volatility and disruption in financial markets and in governmental, commercial and consumer activity in the United States and globally, including the markets that we serve. As the restrictive measures eased during the latter part of 2020 and continued to ease during 2021, the U.S. economy has begun to improve, and with the availability and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, we anticipate continued improvements in commercial and consumer activity and the U.S. economy.

While positive trends existed in 2021, we recognized that our business and consumer customers were continuing to experience varying degrees of financial distress, though to a lesser degree. Commercial activity has improved in our market area, but has not returned to the levels existing prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which may result in our customers’ inability to meet their loan obligations to us. In addition, the economic pressures and uncertainties related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the emergence and spread of variants, have resulted in changes in consumer spending behaviors, which may negatively impact the demand for loans and other services we offer. Labor shortages and supply chain interruptions continue to present obstacles to economic recovery and have contributed to inflationary conditions. These conditions have and are expected to continue to result in overall economic and financial market instability and affect businesses’ profitability and individuals’ purchasing power, all of which could also result in our customers’ inability to make scheduled loan payments. Our borrowing base includes customers in industries such as hotels, restaurants, retail and commercial real estate, which have been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. We recognize that these industries may take longer to recover as consumers may be hesitant to return to full social interaction or may change their spending habits on a more permanent basis as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We continue to monitor these customers closely.

We have taken deliberate actions to meet our goal of ensuring that we have the balance sheet strength to serve our clients and communities, including by seeking to increase our liquidity and manage our assets and liabilities in order to maintain a strong capital position; however, future economic conditions are subject to significant uncertainty. Uncertainties associated with the COVID-19 pandemic include the duration of the COVID-19 outbreak and any related variants, the effectiveness and acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines, the impact to our customers, employees and vendors and the impact to the economy as a whole. COVID-19 had a significant adverse impact on our business, financial position and operating results and while uncertainty still exists, we believe we are well-positioned to operate effectively through the present economic environment.

Our branch locations are currently open and operating during normal business hours. We continue to take additional precautions within our branch locations, including enhanced cleaning procedures, to ensure the safety of our customers and our employees.

​

has an indefinite useful life and is evaluated for credit losses.impairment annually or more frequently if events and circumstances indicate that the asset might be impaired. An impairment loss is recognized to the extent that the carrying amount exceeds the asset’s fair value.

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-04, which simplifies the accounting for goodwill impairment for all entities by requiring impairment charges to be based on Step one of the previous accounting guidance’s two-step impairment test under ASC Topic 350. Under the new guidance, if a reporting unit’s carrying amount exceeds its fair value, an entity will record an impairment charge based on that difference. The impairment charge will be limited to the amount of goodwill allocated to that reporting unit. The new standard eliminates the requirement to calculate a goodwill impairment charge using Step two which involved calculating an implied fair value of goodwill for each reporting unit for which the first step indicated impairment. The standard does not change the guidance on completing Step one of the goodwill impairment test. An entity will still be able to perform today’s optional qualitative goodwill impairment assessment before proceeding to the quantitative step of determining whether the reporting unit’s carrying amount exceeds it fair value.

For our assessment of goodwill as of September 30, 2022, our annual test date, we performed a step one quantitative assessment to determine if the fair value of all our Bank reporting unit was less than its carrying amount. We concluded that the fair value of all our Bank reporting unit exceeded their carrying amounts and no impairment was present based on management’s assessment. No impairment was indicated in 2022, 2021 or 2020. We determined that for Primis Mortgage, we did not need a quantitative assessment and performed a qualitative assessment. No impairment was indicated for 2022 for the Primis Mortgage segment.

We will continue to monitor the impact of current economic conditions and other events on the Company’s business, operating results, cash flows and financial condition. If the current economic conditions and other events were to deteriorate and our stock price falls below current levels, we will have to reevaluate the impact on our financial condition and potential impairment of goodwill.

OVERVIEW

On March 31, 2021, Southern National Bancorp of Virginia, Inc. (“Southern National”) changed its name to Primis Financial Corp. (“Primis,” “we,” “us,” “our” or the “Company”) and Sonabank changed its name to Primis Bank. Primis is the bank holding company for Primis Bank (“Primis Bank” or the “Bank”), a Virginia state-chartered bank which commenced operations on April 14, 2005. Primis Bank provides a range of financial services to individuals and small and medium sizedmedium-sized businesses.

At December 31, 2021,2022, Primis Bank had fortythirty-two full-service branches in Virginia and Maryland and also provides services to customers through certain online and mobile applications. Thirty-fiveThirty full-service retail branches are in Virginia (Ashland, Burgess, Callao, Central Garage, Charlottesville, Chester, Clifton Forge, Colonial Heights, Courtland, Fairfax, Front Royal, Gloucester, Gloucester Point, Hampton, Hartfield, Heathsville, Kilmarnock, Leesburg, McLean, Mechanicsville (2), Middleburg, Midlothian, New Market, Newport News, Quinton, Reston, Richmond, Surry, Tappahannock (2), Urbanna, Warrenton, Waverly, and Williamsburg) and fivetwo full-service retail branches are in Maryland (Bethesda,

​

​

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Net Income

Net income from continuing operations for the year ended December 31, 20212022 was $17.7 million, or $0.72 per basic and per diluted share, compared to $31.0 million, or $1.27 basic and $1.26 diluted earnings per share, compared to $14.9 million, or $0.61 basic and diluted earnings per share, for the year ended December 31, 2020.2021. The 108.4% increase42.8% decrease in the net income during the year ended December 31, 20212022 compared to the year ended December 31, 20202021 was primarily driven by recoveries for credit losseshigher noninterest expenses from an increase in 2021 comparedemployee compensation and benefits expense in the current year. The decrease in net income was also attributable to provision for credit losses in 20202022 compared to a recovery of credit losses in 2021 primarily as loans on deferral and the economic impacta result of COVID-19 declined dramatically in 2021. The increase in net income was offset by a decrease in recoveries related to acquired charged-off loans and investment securities in the current year.robust loan growth.

Net income from discontinued operationoperations for the year ended December 31, 20212022 was $0.23 million,zero, or $0.01zero basic and diluted earnings per share, compared to net income from discontinued operation of $8.4 million, or $0.35 basic and diluted earnings per share, for the year ended December 31, 2020.2021 of $0.23 million, or $0.01 basic and diluted earnings per share. The decline in net income from discontinued operation is