Greenville, South Carolina, January 22, 2025 – Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: SFST), holding company for Southern First Bank, today announced its financial results for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2025.

“We are very pleased to report our fourth quarter financial performance, which was our strongest of 2025 and clearly demonstrates the continued momentum we achieved throughout the year. We maintained solid loan growth, funded by even stronger growth in client deposits. Our full banking relationship strategy continues to drive improving financial returns, including an expanding net interest margin that increased 10 basis points from last quarter and 36 basis points over last year. We continue to strengthen our balance sheet with higher capital levels and have again achieved outstanding asset quality. Our team remains highly motivated and intentional about improving financial performance while delivering client service at levels that are second to none, and that commitment was clearly reflected in our results this quarter and throughout the year. We are fortunate to operate in some of the strongest markets in the Southeast and will continue expanding our teams to grow our business in the disciplined manner that has defined our success. While we remain mindful of broader economic conditions and factors impacting our business, our markets have proven to be resilient and offer tremendous growth opportunities that we intend to fully capitalize on,” stated Art Seaver, Chief Executive Officer. “Looking ahead to the new year, we are optimistic and have high expectations for continued financial performance improvement. Our business pipeline is strong and our team is ready. We expect to build on our track record of attracting experienced bankers who share our commitment to exceptional client service and to supporting our local communities, which remains at the core of everything we do.”

2025 Fourth Quarter Highlights

• Diluted earnings per common share of $1.21, up $0.14, or 13%, from Q3 2025, and up $0.51, or 73%, compared to Q4 2024
• Net interest margin of 2.72%, compared to 2.62% for Q3 2025 and 2.25% for Q4 2024
• Total loans of $3.8 billion, up 6% from Q4 2024; Total deposits of $3.7 billion, up 8% from Q4 2024; Core deposits of $2.9 billion, up 8% from Q4 2024
• Nonperforming assets to total assets of 0.32% and past due loans to total loans of 0.13%
• Book value per common share of $44.89 increased 3% from Q3 2025 and increased 11% compared to Q4 2024; Tangible Common Equity (TCE) ratio of 8.37%