 NEWTON, NC ACCESSWIRE July 19, 2021 Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. NASDAQ:PEBK, the parent company of Peoples Bank, reported second quarter earnings results with highlights as follows: Second quarter highlights: Net earnings were 4.6 million or 0.82 basic net earnings per share and 0.80 diluted net earnings per share for the three months ended June 30, 2021, as compared to 2.6 million or 0.46 basic net earnings per share and 0.44 diluted net earnings per share for the same period one year ago. The Bank originated 72 Small Business Administration SBA Paycheck Protection Program PPP loans, totaling 3.3 million, during the three months ended June 30, 2021. 