SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Form 10-K

ANNUAL REPORT UNDER SECTION 13 OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2003

Commission File Number 0-33501

Northrim BanCorp, Inc.

3111 C Street
Anchorage, Alaska 99503
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code: (907) 562-0062

Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: None

Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
Common Stock, $1.00 Par Value
(Title of Class)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes [X] No [   ]

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is an accelerated filer within the meaning of Rule 12b-2 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Yes [X]  No [   ]

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (17 C.F.R. 229.405) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendments to this Form 10-K. Yes [   ] No [X]

The aggregate market value of common stock held by non-affiliates of registrant at June 30, 2003, was $103,333,186.

The number of shares of registrant’s common stock outstanding at February 26, 2004, was 6,052,669.

Documents incorporated by reference and parts of Form 10-K into which incorporated: The portions of the Proxy Statement for Northrim BanCorp’s Annual Shareholders’ Meeting to be held on May 6, 2004, referenced in Part III of this Form 10-K are incorporated by reference therein.

Table of Contents

Northrim BanCorp, Inc.
Table of Contents

Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This report includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements describe Northrim’s management’s expectations about future events and developments such as future operating results, growth in loans and deposits, continued success of Northrim’s style of banking, and the strength of the local economy. All statements other than statements of historical fact, including statements regarding industry prospects and future results of operations or financial position, made in this report are forward-looking. We use words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “expects,” “intends” and similar expressions in part to help identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements reflect management’s current expectations and are inherently uncertain. Our actual results may differ significantly from management’s expectations, and those variations may be both material and adverse. Forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual results to differ materially and adversely from our expectations as indicated in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include: the general condition of, and changes in, the Alaska economy; factors that impact our net interest margins; and our ability to maintain asset quality. Further, actual results may be affected by our ability to compete on price and other factors with other financial institutions; customer acceptance of new products and services; the regulatory environment in which we operate; and general trends in the local, regional and national banking industry and economy. Many of these risks, as well as other risks that may have a material adverse impact on our operations and business, are identified in Northrim Bank’s filings with the FDIC and those identified from time to time in our filings with the SEC. However, you should be aware that these factors are not an exhaustive list, and you should not assume these are the only factors that may cause our actual results to differ from our expectations. In addition, you should note that we do not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements or the uncertainties that may adversely impact those statements.

i

Northrim BanCorp, Inc.

About the Company

Overview

     Northrim BanCorp, Inc. (the “Company”) is a publicly traded bank holding company with three wholly-owned subsidiaries, Northrim Bank (the “Bank”), a state chartered, full-service commercial bank; Northrim Investment Services Company (“NISC”), which we formed in November 2002 to hold the Company’s 43% equity interest in Elliott Cove Capital Management LLC, (“Elliott Cove”), an investment advisory services company; and Northrim Capital Trust 1 (“NCT1”), an entity that we formed in May of 2003 to facilitate a trust preferred security offering by the Company. We also hold a 30% interest in the profits and losses of a residential mortgage company, Residential Mortgage LLC (“RML”) through Northrim Bank’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Northrim Capital Investment Corporation (“NCIC”). RML was formed in 1998 and has offices throughout Alaska.

     The Company is regulated by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Bank is regulated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the State of Alaska Department of Community and Economic Development, Division of Banking, Securities and Corporations. We began banking operations in Anchorage in December 1990, and formed the Company in connection with our reorganization into a holding company structure; that reorganization was completed effective December 31, 2001. We make our Securities Exchange Act reports available free of charge on our Internet web site, www.northrim.com. Our reports can also be obtained through the SEC’s EDGAR database at www.sec.gov.

     We opened for business in 1990 shortly after the dramatic consolidation of the Alaska banking industry in the late 1980s that left three large commercial banks with over 93% of commercial bank deposits in greater Anchorage. Through the successful implementation of our “Customer First Service” philosophy of providing our customers with the highest level of service, we capitalized on the opportunity presented by this consolidation and carved out a market niche among small business and professional customers seeking more responsive and personalized service.

     We grew substantially in 1999, when we completed a public stock offering, in which we raised $18.5 million and acquired eight branches from Bank of America. The Bank of America branch acquisition was completed in June 1999 and increased our outstanding loans by $114 million, our deposits by $124 million, and provided us fixed assets valued at $2 million, for a purchase price of $5.9 million, in addition to the net book value of the loans and fixed assets. The stock offering allowed us to achieve the Bank of America acquisition while remaining well-capitalized under bank regulatory guidelines.

     In January 2002, we moved our Eagle River Branch from a supermarket branch into a full-service branch to provide a higher level of service to the growing Eagle River market. In December 2002, we completed construction of our Wasilla Financial Center and moved from our existing supermarket branch and loan production office. We moved from our supermarket branch in west Anchorage into a freestanding facility in February 2003. In addition, we plan to explore other branching opportunities in our major markets in the future.

     We have grown to be the third largest commercial bank in Anchorage and Alaska in terms of deposits, with $646.2 million in total deposits and $738.6 million in total assets at December 31, 2003. Through our 10 branches, we are accessible by approximately 75% of the Alaska population.

•		Anchorage: We have two major financial centers in Anchorage, three smaller branches and two supermarket branches.
•		Fairbanks: We opened our financial center in Fairbanks, Alaska’s second largest city, in mid-1996. This branch has given us a strong foothold in Interior Alaska, and management believes that there is significant potential to increase our share of that market. We are currently analyzing additional market opportunities in this area.
•		Eagle River: We also serve Eagle River, a community outside of Anchorage. In January of 2002, we moved from a supermarket branch into a full-service branch to provide a higher level of service to this growing market.

1

•

Wasilla: Wasilla is a rapidly growing market in the Matanuska Valley outside of Anchorage where we completed construction of a new financial center in December of 2002 and moved from our supermarket branch and loan production office into this new facility.

New Core Software System

     In 2000, we selected a new software system to process our loan, deposit and general ledger accounts. We converted to the new system in the second quarter of 2001. This system, which utilizes an Oracle database and real-time customer transaction posting, initiates the process of modernizing our backroom processing. In 2002, we took additional steps by adding an item imaging system and upgrading our Internet banking capabilities. As a result, we moved item processing back in-house as it had been out-sourced due to the rapid expansion that followed the Bank of America branch purchase. We also revamped our customers’ statements and began providing statements with imaged items in January 2003. In 2004, we plan to add document imaging to this system to allow us to electronically store our records and documents. These initiatives are being pursued to improve service levels to customers and achieve operational efficiencies.

Elliott Cove Capital Management LLC

     In the fourth quarter of 2002, we made an initial investment of $375,000 in Elliott Cove through our wholly-owned subsidiary, NISC. In 2003, we made additional investments in Elliott Cove through NISC totaling $375,000. In addition to the equity investments, we made a loan to Elliott Cove that totaled $125,000 at December 31, 2002. In July of 2003, we made a commitment to loan $625,000 to Elliott Cove. The balance outstanding on this commitment at December 31, 2003, was $475,000. The loan is convertible to equity in Elliott Cove and the Company intends to make this conversion in 2004. Finally, in February of 2004, we made a commitment to loan Elliott Cove $500,000 in the form of a one year revolving line of credit.

     During the first quarter of 2003, 10 Northrim Bank employees completed training and earned their series 65 securities licenses and became Registered Investment Advisors (“RIA”). In the second quarter of 2003, we began to offer Elliott Cove investment products to our customers through the sales efforts of the RIAs. We hope to use the Elliott Cove products to diversify our product offerings in an effort to strengthen our existing customer relationships and bring new customers into the Bank. However, we expect to incur losses on the Elliott Cove investment for several years as Elliott Cove builds its assets under management.

Business Strategies

     In addition to our acquisition strategy, we are pursuing a strategy of aggressive internal growth. Our success will depend on our ability to manage our credit risks and control our costs while providing competitive products and services. To achieve our objectives, we are pursuing the following business strategies:

•

Providing Customer First Service: We provide a high level of customer service. Our guiding principle is to serve our market areas by operating with a “Customer First Service” philosophy, affording our customers the highest priority in all aspects of our operations. To achieve this objective, our management emphasizes the hiring and retention of competent and highly motivated employees at all levels of the organization. Management believes that a well-trained and highly motivated core of employees allows maximum personal contact with customers in order to understand and fulfill customer needs and preferences. This “Customer First Service” philosophy is combined with our emphasis on personalized, local decision making.

•

Emphasizing Business and Professional Lending: We endeavor to provide commercial lending products and services, and to emphasize relationship banking with businesses and professional individuals. Management believes that our focus on providing financial services to businesses and professional individuals has and may continue to increase lending and core deposit volumes.

•

Providing Competitive and Responsive Real Estate Lending: We are a major land development and residential construction lender and an active lender in the commercial real estate market. Management believes that our willingness to provide these services in a professional and responsive manner has contributed significantly to our growth. Because of our relatively small size, our experienced senior management can be more involved with serving customers and making credit decisions, allowing us to compete more favorably for lending relationships.

2

•

Pursuing Strategic Opportunities for Additional Growth: Management believes that the Bank of America branch acquisition significantly strengthened our local market position and enabled us to further capitalize on expansion opportunities resulting from the demand for a locally based banking institution providing a high level of service. Not only did the acquisition increase our size, number of branch offices and lending capacity, but it also expanded our consumer lending, further diversifying our loan portfolio. We expect to continue seeking similar opportunities to further our growth while maintaining a high level of credit quality. We plan to affect our growth strategy through a combination of growth at existing branch locations, new branch openings, primarily in Anchorage, Wasilla and Fairbanks, and strategic banking and non-banking acquisitions.

•

Developing a Sales Culture: In 2003, we conducted extensive sales training throughout the company and developed a comprehensive approach to sales. Our goal throughout this process is to increase and broaden the relationships that we have with new and existing customers and to continue to increase our market share within our existing markets.

Services

     We provide a wide range of banking services in South Central and Interior Alaska to businesses, professionals, and individuals with high service expectations.

Deposit Services: Our deposit services include non-interest-bearing checking accounts and interest-bearing time deposits, checking accounts, and savings accounts. Our interest-bearing accounts generally earn interest at rates established by management based on competitive market factors and management’s desire to increase or decrease certain types or maturities of deposits. Our money market deposit account pays interest based on the 90-day U.S. Treasury rate.

Several of our innovative deposit services and products are:

•

An indexed money market deposit account;

•

A “Jump-Up” certificate of deposit (“CD”) that allows additional deposits with the opportunity to increase the rate to the current market rate for a similar term CD;

•

An indexed CD that allows additional deposits, quarterly withdrawals without penalty, and tailored maturity dates; and

•

Arrangements to courier non-cash deposits from our customers to their branch.

Lending Services: We are an active lender with an emphasis on commercial and real estate lending. We also have a significant niche in construction and land development lending in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and the Matanuska Valley (near Anchorage). To a lesser extent, we provide consumer loans. See “ – Lending Activities.”

Other Customer Services: In addition to our deposit and lending services, we offer our customers several 24-hour services: Telebanking, faxed account statements, Internet banking for individuals and businesses, and automated teller services. Other special services include personalized checks at account opening, overdraft protection from a savings account, extended banking hours (Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. for the lobby, and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. for the drive-up, and Saturday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.), commercial drive-up banking with coin service, automatic transfers and payments, wire transfers, direct payroll deposit, electronic tax payments, Automated Clearing House origination and receipt, cash management programs to meet the specialized needs of business customers, and courier agents who pick up non-cash deposits from business customers.

3

Directors and Executive Officers: The following table presents the names and occupations of our directors and executive officers.

4

Selected Financial Data

5

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and
Results of Operation

Overview

     We are a publicly traded bank holding company with three wholly-owned subsidiaries: the Bank, a state chartered, full-service commercial bank; NISC, a company formed to invest in Elliott Cove, an investment advisory services company; and NCT1, an entity formed to facilitate a trust preferred securities offering. We are headquartered in Anchorage and have 10 branch locations, seven in Anchorage, and one each in Fairbanks, Eagle River, and Wasilla. We offer a wide array of commercial and consumer loan and deposit products, investment products, and electronic banking services over the Internet.

     We opened the Bank for business in Anchorage in 1990. The Bank became the wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company effective December 31, 2001, when we completed our bank holding company reorganization. We opened our first branch in Fairbanks in 1996, and our second location in Anchorage in 1997. During the second quarter of 1999, we purchased eight branches located in Anchorage, Eagle River and Wasilla from Bank of America. This acquisition resulted in us acquiring $114 million in loans, $124 million in deposits and $2 million in fixed assets for a purchase price of $5.9 million.

     One of our major objectives is to increase our market share in Anchorage and Fairbanks, Alaska’s two largest urban areas. We estimate that we hold a 21% share of the commercial bank deposit market in Anchorage and a 7% share of the Fairbanks market as of June 30, 2003.

     Our growth and operations depend upon the economic conditions of Alaska and the specific markets it serves. The economy of Alaska is dependent upon the natural resources industries, in particular oil production, as well as tourism, government, and U.S. military spending. Approximately 40% of the Alaska economy is generated from the oil industry, and about 75% of the Alaska state government is funded through various taxes and royalties on the oil industry. Any significant changes in the Alaska economy and the markets we serve eventually could have a positive or negative impact on the Company.

     During the second quarter of 1999, we sold 1,842,900 shares of our common stock in an underwritten common stock offering that generated $18.5 million in net proceeds. We used the proceeds to purchase the Bank of America branches and to provide capital for additional growth.

     At December 31, 2003, we had assets of $738.6 million and gross loans of $601.1 million, an increase of 5% and 12%, respectively, over the previous year. Our net income and diluted earnings per share for 2003 were $10.5 million and $1.69, respectively; an increase of 23% and 25%, respectively, from 2002. During the same time, our net interest income increased by $4.6 million, or 13%, and our other operating income grew by $890,000, or 17%. The growth in our income was coupled with smaller growth in our other operating expenses of $1.7 million, or 7%, which contributed to the larger increase in our net income and earnings per share.

Results of Operations

Net Income

     We earned net income of $10.5 million in 2003, compared to net income of $8.5 million in 2002, and $7.1 million in 2001. Net income per diluted share was $1.69, $1.35, and $1.13, respectively.

Net Interest Income

     Our results of operations are dependent to a large degree on our net interest income. We also generate other income, primarily through service charges and fees, earnings from our mortgage affiliate, and other sources. Our operating expenses consist primarily of compensation, employee benefits expense, and occupancy expense. Interest income and cost of funds are affected significantly by general economic conditions, particularly changes in market interest rates, and by government policies and the actions of regulatory authorities.

     Net interest income is the difference between interest income, principally from loan and investment securities portfolios, and interest expense, principally on customer deposits and borrowings. Net interest income in 2003 was $39.3 million compared to $34.7 million in 2002, and $31.3 million in 2001, reflecting an increase in our interest-earning assets. Average interest-earning assets increased $53.8 million, or 9%, in 2003 compared to an increase in average interest-bearing liabilities in 2003 of $28.2 million, or 6%. Average interest-earning assets increased $61.4 million, or 11%, in 2002 compared to an increase in average interest-bearing liabilities in 2002 of $32.9 million, or 8%.

     Changes in net interest income result from changes in volume and spread, which in turn affect our margin. For this purpose, volume refers to the average dollar level of interest-earning assets and interest-bearing liabilities, spread refers to the difference between the average yield on interest-earning assets and the average cost of interest-bearing liabilities, and margin refers to net interest income divided by average interest-earning assets. Changes in net interest income are influenced by the level and relative mix of interest-earning assets and interest-bearing liabilities. During the fiscal years ended December 31, 2003, 2002,

6

and 2001, average interest-earning assets were $653.5 million, $599.7 million and $538.3 million, respectively. During these same periods, net interest margins were 6.01%, 5.78% and 5.82%, respectively, which reflect our balance sheet mix and premium pricing on loans compared to other community banks and an emphasis on construction lending, which has a higher fee base. Our average yield on earning assets was 7.03% in 2003, 7.48% in 2002, and 8.93% in 2001, while the average cost of interest-bearing liabilities was 1.42% in 2003, 2.30% in 2002, and 4.10% in 2001.

     Our net interest margin increased in 2003 from 2002 for several reasons. First, interest rates declined to historically low levels with the rates on interest bearing liabilities declining by 88 basis points versus a 45 basis point decline in earning assets. Second, fee income increased in 2003 to $5.1 million versus $3.8 million in 2002. Finally, we received the benefit of pre-payment penalties as several long-term real estate loans were refinanced that had early pre-payment penalties. The total amount of pre-payment penalties earned in 2003 was $477,000, which increased our net interest margin by seven basis points based upon average interest-earning assets of $653.5 million.

     The following table sets forth for the periods indicated, information with regard to average balances of assets and liabilities, as well as the total dollar amounts of interest income from interest-earning assets and interest expense on interest-bearing liabilities. Resultant yields or costs, net interest income, and net interest margin are also presented.

(1)

Interest income included loan fees.

(2)

Nonaccrual loans are included with a zero effective yield.

(3)

The net interest margin on a tax equivalent basis was 6.04%, 5.82%, 5.88%, 5.82%, and 6.10% , respectively, for 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, and 1999.

7

     The following table sets forth the changes in consolidated net interest income attributable to changes in volume and to changes in interest rates. Changes attributable to the combined effect of volume and interest rate have been allocated proportionately to the changes due to volume and the changes due to interest rate.

Other Operating Income

     Total other income increased $890,000, or 17%, in 2003, after increasing $433,000, or 9%, in 2002, and $1.3 million, or 39%, in 2001. The following table separates the more routine (recurring) sources of other income from those that can fluctuate significantly from period to period: