Capital City Bank (CCBG) Risk Factors

We originate commercial real estate loans, commercial loans, construction loans, vacant land loans, consumer loans, and residential mortgage loans primarily within our market area. Commercial real estate, commercial, construction, vacant land, and consumer loans may expose a lender to greater credit risk than traditional fixed-rate fully amortizing loans secured by single-family residential real estate because the collateral securing these loans may not be sold as easily as single-family residential real estate. In addition, these loan types tend to involve larger loan balances to a single borrower or groups of related borrowers and are more susceptible to a risk of loss during a downturn in the business cycle. These loans also have historically had greater credit risk than other loans for the following reasons: Commercial Real Estate Loans. Repayment is dependent on income being generated in amounts sufficient to cover operating expenses and debt service. These loans also involve greater risk because they are generally not fully amortizing over the loan period, but rather have a balloon payment due at maturity. A borrower's ability to make a balloon payment typically will depend on the borrower's ability to either refinance the loan or timely sell the underlying property. At December 31, 2019, commercial mortgage loans comprised approximately 33.9% of our total loan portfolio. Commercial Loans. Repayment is generally dependent upon the successful operation of the borrower's business. In addition, the collateral securing the loans may depreciate over time, be difficult to appraise, be illiquid, or fluctuate in value based on the success of the business. At December 31, 2019, commercial loans comprised approximately 13.9% of our total loan portfolio. Construction Loans. The risk of loss is largely dependent on our initial estimate of whether the property's value at completion equals or exceeds the cost of property construction and the availability of take-out financing. During the construction phase, a number of factors can result in delays or cost overruns. If our estimate is inaccurate or if actual construction costs exceed estimates, the value of the property securing our loan may be insufficient to ensure full repayment when completed through a permanent loan, sale of the property, or by seizure of collateral.  At December 31, 2019, construction loans comprised approximately 6.2% of our total loan portfolio. Vacant Land Loans. Because vacant or unimproved land is generally held by the borrower for investment purposes or future use, payments on loans secured by vacant or unimproved land will typically rank lower in priority to the borrower than a loan the borrower may have on their primary residence or business. These loans are susceptible to adverse conditions in the real estate market and local economy. At December 31, 2019, vacant land loans comprised approximately 2.9% of our total loan portfolio. HELOCs. Our open-ended home equity loans have an interest-only draw period followed by a five-year repayment period of 0.75% of the principal balance monthly and a balloon payment at maturity. Upon the commencement of the repayment period, the monthly payment can increase significantly, thus, there is a heightened risk that the borrower will be unable to pay the increased payment. Further, these loans also involve greater risk because they are generally not fully amortizing over the loan period, but rather have a balloon payment due at maturity.  A borrower's ability to make a balloon payment may depend on the borrower's ability to either refinance the loan or timely sell the underlying property.  At December 31, 2019, HELOCs comprised approximately 10.7% of our total loan portfolio. Consumer Loans. Consumer loans (such as automobile loans and personal lines of credit) are collateralized, if at all, with assets that may not provide an adequate source of payment of the loan due to depreciation, damage, or loss. At December 31, 2019, consumer loans comprised approximately 15.2% of our total loan portfolio, with indirect auto loans making up a majority of this portfolio at approximately 89.2% of the total balance. The increased risks associated with these types of loans result in a correspondingly higher probability of default on such loans (as compared to fixed-rate fully amortizing single-family real estate loans). Loan defaults would likely increase our loan losses and nonperforming assets and could adversely affect our allowance for loan losses and our results of operations.

Effective liquidity management is essential for the operation of our business. We require sufficient liquidity to meet client loan requests, client deposit maturities and withdrawals, payments on our debt obligations as they come due and other cash commitments under both normal operating conditions and other unpredictable circumstances causing industry or general financial market stress. If we are unable to raise funds through deposits, borrowings, earnings and other sources, it could have a substantial negative effect on our liquidity.  In particular, a majority of our liabilities during 2019 were checking accounts and other liquid deposits, which are generally payable on demand or upon short notice. By comparison, a substantial majority of our assets were loans, which cannot generally be called or sold in the same time frame. Although we have historically been able to replace maturing deposits and advances as necessary, we might not be able to replace such funds in the future, especially if a large number of our depositors seek to withdraw their accounts at the same time, regardless of the reason. Our access to funding sources in amounts adequate to finance our activities on terms that are acceptable to us could be impaired by factors that affect us specifically or the financial services industry or economy in general. Factors that could negatively impact our access to liquidity sources include a decrease in the level of our business activity as a result of a downturn in the markets in which our loans are concentrated, adverse regulatory action against us, or our inability to attract and retain deposits. 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. If we are unable to maintain adequate liquidity, it could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition.

Our interest-earning assets are heavily concentrated in mortgage loans secured by real estate, particularly real estate located in Florida and Georgia.  At December 31, 2019, approximately 71% of our loans included real estate as a primary, secondary, or tertiary component of collateral. The real estate collateral in each case provides an alternate source of repayment in the event of default by the borrower; however, the value of the collateral may decline during the time the credit is extended. If we are required to liquidate the collateral securing a loan during a period of reduced real estate values to satisfy the debt, our earnings and capital could be adversely affected. Additionally, at December 31, 2019, substantially all of our loans secured by real estate are secured by commercial and residential properties located in Northern Florida and Middle Georgia. The concentration of our loans in these areas subjects us to risk that a downturn in the economy or recession in these areas could result in a decrease in loan originations and increases in delinquencies and foreclosures, which would more greatly affect us than if our lending were more geographically diversified. In addition, since a large portion of our portfolio is secured by properties located in Florida and Georgia, the occurrence of a natural disaster, such as a hurricane, or a man-made disaster could result in a decline in loan originations, a decline in the value or destruction of mortgaged properties and an increase in the risk of delinquencies, foreclosures or loss on loans originated by us. We may suffer further losses due to the decline in the value of the properties underlying our mortgage loans, which would have an adverse impact on our results of operations and financial condition.

Due to the lack of diversified industry within the markets served by CCB and the relatively close proximity of our geographic markets, we have both geographic concentrations as well as concentrations in the types of loans funded. Specifically, due to the nature of our markets, a significant portion of the portfolio has historically been secured with real estate. At December 31, 2019, approximately 34% and 20% of our $1.836 billion loan portfolio was secured by commercial real estate and residential real estate, respectively. As of this same date, approximately 6% was secured by property under construction. In the event we are required to foreclose on a property securing one of our mortgage loans or otherwise pursue our remedies in order to protect our investment, we may be unable to recover funds in an amount equal to our projected return on our investment or in an amount sufficient to prevent a loss to us due to prevailing economic conditions, real estate values and other factors associated with the ownership of real property. As a result, the market value of the real estate or other collateral underlying our loans may not, at any given time, be sufficient to satisfy the outstanding principal amount of the loans, and consequently, we would sustain loan losses.

A large portion of our investment securities portfolio at December 31, 2019 has been designated as available-for-sale pursuant to U.S. generally accepted accounting principles relating to accounting for investments. Such principles require that unrealized gains and losses in the estimated value of the available-for-sale portfolio be "marked to market" and reflected as a separate item in shareowners' equity (net of tax) as accumulated other comprehensive income/losses. Shareowners' equity will continue to reflect the unrealized gains and losses (net of tax) of these investments. The fair value of our investment portfolio may decline, causing a corresponding decline in shareowners' equity. Management believes that several factors will affect the fair values of our investment portfolio. These include, but are not limited to, changes in interest rates or expectations of changes in interest rates, the degree of volatility in the securities markets, inflation rates or expectations of inflation and the slope of the interest rate yield curve (the yield curve refers to the differences between short-term and long-term interest rates; a positively sloped yield curve means short-term rates are lower than long-term rates). These and other factors may impact specific categories of the portfolio differently, and we cannot predict the effect these factors may have on any specific category.