FIRST BANCSHARES INC /MS/, DEF 14A filed on 4/10/2024
Proxy Statement (definitive)
v3.24.1.u1
Cover
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2023
Document Information [Line Items]  
Document Type DEF 14A
Amendment Flag false
Entity Information [Line Items]  
Entity Registrant Name THE FIRST BANCSHARES, INC.
Entity Central Index Key 0000947559
v3.24.1.u1
Pay vs Performance Disclosure
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2023
USD ($)
Dec. 31, 2022
USD ($)
Dec. 31, 2021
USD ($)
Dec. 31, 2020
USD ($)
Pay vs Performance Disclosure        
Pay vs Performance Disclosure, Table

Pay vs. Performance

 

   Summary   Compensation Actually Paid 

SCT Total for

 

Compensation Actually Paid to

  Value of Initial Fixed $100
Investment Based On:		     Company
Selected
Measure
Pre-Tax Pre-		 
Year  Compensation Table
(SCT) Total for CEO$(1)		  to
CEO($)(2)()		 Non-PEO
NEO($)		  Non-PEO
NEO($)(2)		 

FBMS TSR

  Peer Group TSR(3)  Net Income($)  Provision
Income(4)		 
(a)  (b)  (c)  (d)  (e)  (f)  (g)  (h)  (i) 
2023  2,426,148  1,927,107  1,088,616  902,166  89.97  106.86  75,457,000  129,080 
2022  3,079,429  2,508,196  1,226,198  994,977  100.35  115.38  62,919,000  88,203,000 
2021  1,677,507  1,957,287  770,988  901,304  118.37  137.82  64,167,000  80,257,000 
2020  1,586,035  1,380,158  538,543  454,636  93.25  96.44  54,505,000  82,109,000 
Year 5  (required in 2025)                      

 

1) The principal executive officer (the”PEO”) for each of 2023, 2022, 2021, and 2020 is Mr. Cole. We only have one non-PEO named executive Officer (the “non-PEO NEO”) for each applicable year, Ms. Lowery.  

 

2) Reconciliation of adjustments made to Summary Compensation Table total compensation to calculate CAP for the PEO and CAP for the non-PEO NEO:

 

   CEO   Non-PEO NEO 
   2023   2022   2021   2020   2023   2022   2021   2020 
SCT  2,426,148   3,079,429   1,677,507   1,586,035   1,088,616   1,226,198   770,988   538,543 
Stock  awards reported in SCT  (803,443)  (1,487,425)  (240,435)  (284,750)  (329,866)  (510,705)  (122,067)  (108,728)
Change in pension value reported in SCT  (663,535)  (605,789)  (551,602)  (500,755)  (294,625)  (269,882)  (246,613)  (45,844)
“Service Cost” attributable to current years’ service  492,214   492,214   492,214   492,214   251,079   251,079   251,079   35,745 
Year-end fair value of unvested restricted stock awards granted in current year  645,143   1,292,724   251,030   316,242   243,850   400,125   127,446   106,351 
Dividends paid on unvested shares and stock options (SOs)  18,690   24,725   13,191   8,461   8,480   7,946   4,029   3,840 
Year over year change in fair value of outstanding and unvested restricted stock  (188,110)  (287,682)  315,382   (237,290)  (65,368)  (109,784)  116,442   (75,271)
CAP  1,927,107   2,508,196   1,957,287   1,380,158   902,166   994,977   901,304   454,636 

 

3) The peer group that we used for purposes of this disclosure is the NASDAQ OMX Bank Index, the same index used for our performance graph disclosed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023.

 

4) Calculated as pre-tax, pre-provision income adjusted for one-time, non-operating items.

      
Company Selected Measure Name Pre-Tax Pre-ProvisionIncome      
Named Executive Officers, Footnote

1) The principal executive officer (the”PEO”) for each of 2023, 2022, 2021, and 2020 is Mr. Cole. We only have one non-PEO named executive Officer (the “non-PEO NEO”) for each applicable year, Ms. Lowery.  

      
Peer Group Issuers, Footnote

3) The peer group that we used for purposes of this disclosure is the NASDAQ OMX Bank Index, the same index used for our performance graph disclosed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023.

      
PEO Total Compensation Amount $ 2,426,148 $ 3,079,429 $ 1,677,507 $ 1,586,035
PEO Actually Paid Compensation Amount $ 1,927,107 2,508,196 1,957,287 1,380,158
Adjustment To PEO Compensation, Footnote

2) Reconciliation of adjustments made to Summary Compensation Table total compensation to calculate CAP for the PEO and CAP for the non-PEO NEO:

   CEO   Non-PEO NEO 
   2023   2022   2021   2020   2023   2022   2021   2020 
SCT  2,426,148   3,079,429   1,677,507   1,586,035   1,088,616   1,226,198   770,988   538,543 
Stock  awards reported in SCT  (803,443)  (1,487,425)  (240,435)  (284,750)  (329,866)  (510,705)  (122,067)  (108,728)
Change in pension value reported in SCT  (663,535)  (605,789)  (551,602)  (500,755)  (294,625)  (269,882)  (246,613)  (45,844)
“Service Cost” attributable to current years’ service  492,214   492,214   492,214   492,214   251,079   251,079   251,079   35,745 
Year-end fair value of unvested restricted stock awards granted in current year  645,143   1,292,724   251,030   316,242   243,850   400,125   127,446   106,351 
Dividends paid on unvested shares and stock options (SOs)  18,690   24,725   13,191   8,461   8,480   7,946   4,029   3,840 
Year over year change in fair value of outstanding and unvested restricted stock  (188,110)  (287,682)  315,382   (237,290)  (65,368)  (109,784)  116,442   (75,271)
CAP  1,927,107   2,508,196   1,957,287   1,380,158   902,166   994,977   901,304   454,636 
      
Non-PEO NEO Average Total Compensation Amount $ 1,088,616 1,226,198 770,988 538,543
Non-PEO NEO Average Compensation Actually Paid Amount $ 902,166 994,977 901,304 454,636
Adjustment to Non-PEO NEO Compensation Footnote

2) Reconciliation of adjustments made to Summary Compensation Table total compensation to calculate CAP for the PEO and CAP for the non-PEO NEO:

   CEO   Non-PEO NEO 
   2023   2022   2021   2020   2023   2022   2021   2020 
SCT  2,426,148   3,079,429   1,677,507   1,586,035   1,088,616   1,226,198   770,988   538,543 
Stock  awards reported in SCT  (803,443)  (1,487,425)  (240,435)  (284,750)  (329,866)  (510,705)  (122,067)  (108,728)
Change in pension value reported in SCT  (663,535)  (605,789)  (551,602)  (500,755)  (294,625)  (269,882)  (246,613)  (45,844)
“Service Cost” attributable to current years’ service  492,214   492,214   492,214   492,214   251,079   251,079   251,079   35,745 
Year-end fair value of unvested restricted stock awards granted in current year  645,143   1,292,724   251,030   316,242   243,850   400,125   127,446   106,351 
Dividends paid on unvested shares and stock options (SOs)  18,690   24,725   13,191   8,461   8,480   7,946   4,029   3,840 
Year over year change in fair value of outstanding and unvested restricted stock  (188,110)  (287,682)  315,382   (237,290)  (65,368)  (109,784)  116,442   (75,271)
CAP  1,927,107   2,508,196   1,957,287   1,380,158   902,166   994,977   901,304   454,636 
      
Compensation Actually Paid vs. Total Shareholder Return CEO and Non-PEO NEO compensation actually paid as compared to company TSR:  As the reconciliation of adjustments made to SCT to arrive at CAP show, the adjusted equity values are positive for 2021 and negative for 2022 and 2023. This reflects the fact that year end stock price from year-end 2020 to year-end 2021 increased and year-end stock price from 2021 to year-end 2022 and year-end stock price from 2022 to year-end 2023 decreased, which correlates with cumulative TSR increases from 2020 to 2021 and decreases from 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023.      
Compensation Actually Paid vs. Company Selected Measure CEO and Non-PEO NEO compensation actually paid to company pre-tax income: The total compensation actually paid to each executive correlates to the Bank's achievement of profitability and strategic goals through the annual and long-term incentive plans that were approved by the compensation committee for these executive officers. The decrease in compensation actually paid from the amounts disclosed in the summary compensation table is due to decreases in stock price in 2023, 2022, and 2020, which is attributable to overall market changes rather than executive officer performance.      
Total Shareholder Return Vs Peer Group Company TSR to peer group TSR:  As shown in the chart below, FBMS' total shareholder return is slightly below the OMX Banks-Index peer group for 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.  This is due primarily to the Banks asset growth over the past four years.

 

      
Tabular List, Table

Required Tabular disclosure of Most Important Measures to Determine 2023 CAP

 

Other Company Selected Performance Measures

Pre-Tax Income Loan Growth

Deposit Growth

Total Asset Growth

Credit Quality

     
Total Shareholder Return Amount $ 89.97 100.35 118.37 93.25
Peer Group Total Shareholder Return Amount 106.86 115.38 137.82 96.44
Net Income (Loss) $ 75,457,000 $ 62,919,000 $ 64,167,000 $ 54,505,000
Company Selected Measure Amount 129,080 88,203,000 80,257,000 82,109,000
PEO Name Mr. Cole      
Measure:: 1        
Pay vs Performance Disclosure        
Name Pre-Tax Income Loan Growth      
Non-GAAP Measure Description

4) Calculated as pre-tax, pre-provision income adjusted for one-time, non-operating items.

      
Measure:: 2        
Pay vs Performance Disclosure        
Name Deposit Growth      
Measure:: 3        
Pay vs Performance Disclosure        
Name Total Asset Growth      
Measure:: 4        
Pay vs Performance Disclosure        
Name Credit Quality      
PEO | Equity Awards Value In Summary Compensation Table (Grant Date Value) [Member]        
Pay vs Performance Disclosure        
Adjustment to Compensation, Amount $ (803,443) $ (1,487,425) $ (240,435) $ (284,750)
PEO | Pension Adjustments Pension Value In Summary Compensation Table [Member]        
Pay vs Performance Disclosure        
Adjustment to Compensation, Amount (663,535) (605,789) (551,602) (500,755)
PEO | Pension Adjustments Service Cost [Member]        
Pay vs Performance Disclosure        
Adjustment to Compensation, Amount 492,214 492,214 492,214 492,214
PEO | Year-end Fair Value Of Awards Granted In The Current Fiscal Year [Member]        
Pay vs Performance Disclosure        
Adjustment to Compensation, Amount 645,143 1,292,724 251,030 316,242
PEO | Dividends paid on unvested shares and stock options (SOs)        
Pay vs Performance Disclosure        
Adjustment to Compensation, Amount 18,690 24,725 13,191 8,461
PEO | Change In Fair Value Of Outstanding And Unvested Awards Granted In Prior Fiscal Years [Member]        
Pay vs Performance Disclosure        
Adjustment to Compensation, Amount (188,110) (287,682) 315,382 (237,290)
Non-PEO NEO | Equity Awards Value In Summary Compensation Table (Grant Date Value) [Member]        
Pay vs Performance Disclosure        
Adjustment to Compensation, Amount (329,866) (510,705) (122,067) (108,728)
Non-PEO NEO | Pension Adjustments Pension Value In Summary Compensation Table [Member]        
Pay vs Performance Disclosure        
Adjustment to Compensation, Amount (294,625) (269,882) (246,613) (45,844)
Non-PEO NEO | Pension Adjustments Service Cost [Member]        
Pay vs Performance Disclosure        
Adjustment to Compensation, Amount 251,079 251,079 251,079 35,745
Non-PEO NEO | Year-end Fair Value Of Awards Granted In The Current Fiscal Year [Member]        
Pay vs Performance Disclosure        
Adjustment to Compensation, Amount 243,850 400,125 127,446 106,351
Non-PEO NEO | Dividends paid on unvested shares and stock options (SOs)        
Pay vs Performance Disclosure        
Adjustment to Compensation, Amount 8,480 7,946 4,029 3,840
Non-PEO NEO | Change In Fair Value Of Outstanding And Unvested Awards Granted In Prior Fiscal Years [Member]        
Pay vs Performance Disclosure        
Adjustment to Compensation, Amount $ (65,368) $ (109,784) $ 116,442 $ (75,271)