1. Name and Address of Reporting Person GARNER, JAMES H. 116 GARNER BRITT DRIVE ROBBINS, NC 27325 2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol FIRST BANCORP (FBNC) 3. IRS or Social Security Number of Reporting Person (Voluntary) 4. Statement for Month/Year 3/2003 5. If Amendment, Date of Original (Month/Day/Year) 6. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable) (X) Director ( ) 10% Owner (X) Officer (give title below) ( ) Other (specify below) PRESIDENT/CEO 7. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line) (X) Form filed by One Reporting Person ( ) Form filed by More than One Reporting Person TABLE I -- Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned +---------------------------------+----------+-------------+-----------------------------+----------------+-----------+------------+ |1. Title of Security |2. Trans- |3. Trans- |4. Securities Acquired (A) |5. Amount of |6. Owner- |7. Nature | | | action | action | or Disposed of (D) | Securities | ship | of In- | | | Date | Code | | Beneficially | Form: | direct | | | | | | Owned at | Direct | Bene- | | | (Month/ | | | End of | (D) or | ficial | | | Day/ +-------+-----+-----------+------+----------+ Month | Indirect| Owner- | | | Year) |Code |V |Amount |A/D |Price | | (I) | ship | +---------------------------------+----------+-------+-----+-----------+------+----------+----------------+-----------+------------+ Common Stock 01/24/2003 I V 2.136 A $23.4000 D Common Stock 02/25/2003 I V 1.9841 A $25.2000 25862.217 D Common Stock 6921 I 401K PLAN TABLE II -- Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned +-------------+--------+----------+---------+-----------+---------------------+----------------+----------+--------+-------+-------+ |1. |2. |3. |4. |5. |6. |7. |8. |9. |10. |11. | | | | | | | | | |Number |Owner- | | | | | | | | | | |of |ship | | | | | | | | | | |Deriv- |Form of| | | | | | | | |Title and Amount| |ative |Deriv- | | | | | | | | |of Underlying | |Secur- |ative |Nature | | |Conver- | | |Number of | |Securities | |ities |Secur- |of | | |sion or | | |Derivative |Date Exercisable +-------+--------+ |Benefi- |ity: |In- | | |Exercise| | |Securities |and Expiration Date | |Amount | |cially |Direct |direct | | |Price of|Transac- |Transac- |Acquired(A)|(Month/Day/Year) | |or | |Owned |(D) or |Bene- | |Title of |Deriv- |tion Date |tion Code|Disposed(D)+----------+----------+ |Number |Price of |at End |In- |ficial | |Derivative |ative |(Month/ +------+--+-----+-----+Date Exer-|Expira- | |of |Derivative|of |direct |Owner- | |Security |Security|Day/Year) |Code |V |(A) |(D) |cisable |tion Date |Title |Shares |Security |Month |(I) |ship | +-------------+--------+----------+------+--+-----+-----+----------+----------+-------+--------+----------+--------+-------+-------+ Stock Options $7.083 12/14/2004 Common 2560 D (Right to buy) Stock Stock Options $17.333 04/30/2009 Common 12000 D (Right to buy) Stock Explanation of Responses: SIGNATURE OF REPORTING PERSON /s/ JAMES H. GARNER DATE 03/11/2003