 NEWTON, NC ACCESSWIRE April 19, 2021 Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. NASDAQ:PEBK, the parent company of Peoples Bank, reported first quarter earnings results with highlights as follows: First quarter highlights: Net earnings were 4.1 million or 0.71 basic and diluted net earnings per share for the three months ended March 31, 2021, as compared to 2.4 million or 0.40 basic and diluted net earnings per share for the same period one year ago. Total loans increased 65.9 million to 946.5 million at March 31, 2021, compared to 880.6 million at March 31, 2020. 