1. Name and Address of Reporting Person
ARNOLD, JERRY M.
678 BISCOE ROAD
TROY, NC 27371
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)
( ) Director ( ) 10% Owner
(X) Officer (give title below) ( ) Other (specify below)
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT
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 4.273 A $23.4000 D
Common Stock 02/25/2003 I V 3.9683 A $25.2000 945.6354 D
Common Stock 3342 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 6000 D
(Right to buy) Stock
Explanation of Responses:
SIGNATURE OF REPORTING PERSON
/s/ JERRY M. ARNOLD
DATE
03/11/2003