SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

FORM 10-Q

QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d)
OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the quarterly period ended September 30, 2004
Commission File Number: 1-9047

Independent Bank Corp.

288 Union Street, Rockland, Massachusetts 02370
(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)

(781) 878-6100
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

     Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities 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.

     Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an accelerated filer (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).

     As of November 1, 2004, there were 15,301,329 shares of the issuer’s common stock outstanding, par value $0.01 per share.

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INDEX

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PART 1. FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Item 1. Financial Statements

INDEPENDENT BANK CORP.

The accompanying condensed notes are an integral part of these unaudited consolidated financial statements.

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INDEPENDENT BANK CORP.

The accompanying condensed notes are an integral part of these unaudited consolidated financial statements.

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INDEPENDENT BANK CORP.

The accompanying condensed notes are an integral part of these unaudited consolidated financial statements.

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INDEPENDENT BANK CORP.

The accompanying condensed notes are an integral part of these unaudited consolidated financial statements.

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CONDENSED NOTES TO UNAUDITED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

NOTE 1 — BASIS OF PRESENTATION

     Independent Bank Corp. (the “Company”) is a state chartered, federally registered bank holding company headquartered in Rockland, Massachusetts and was incorporated in 1986. The Company is the sole stockholder of Rockland Trust Company (“Rockland” or “the Bank”), a Massachusetts trust company chartered in 1907. The Company also owns 100% of the common stock of Independent Capital Trust III (“Trust III”) and Independent Capital Trust IV (“Trust IV”), each of which have issued trust preferred securities to the public. As of March 31, 2004, Trust III and Trust IV are no longer included in the Company’s consolidated financial statements (see FIN 46R discussion in Note 3 to the Condensed Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements below). The Bank’s subsidiaries consist of two Massachusetts securities corporations, RTC Securities Corp. I and RTC Securities Corp. X; Taunton Avenue Inc.; and Rockland Trust Community Development LLC. Taunton Avenue Inc. was formed in May 2003 to hold loans, industrial development bonds and other assets. Rockland Trust Community Development LLC was formed in August 2003 to provide investment capital to low-income communities and low-income persons. All material intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. Certain amounts in prior year financial statements have been reclassified to conform to the current year’s presentation.

     The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments considered necessary for a fair presentation of the financial statements, primarily consisting of normal recurring adjustments, have been included. Operating results for the quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2004 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ended December 31, 2004 or any other interim period. For further information, refer to the consolidated financial statements and footnotes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2003 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

NOTE 2 — STOCK BASED COMPENSATION

     The Company has three stock option plans: the Amended and Restated 1987 Incentive Stock Option Plan (“The 1987 Plan”), the 1996 Non-employee Directors’ Stock Option Plan (“The 1996 Plan”) and the 1997 Employee Stock Option Plan (“The 1997 Plan”). All three plans were approved by the Company’s Board of Directors. Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 123 (“SFAS 123”), “Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation” encourages, but does not require, adoption of a fair-value based method of accounting for employee stock-based compensation plans, where compensation cost is measured at the grant date based on the fair value of the award and is recognized over the service period. An entity may continue to apply Accounting Principles Board Opinion No. 25 (“APB 25”), “Accounting for Stock Issued to Employees”, and related interpretations, whereby compensation cost is the excess, if any, of the exercise price of options granted over the fair market value of the Company’s stock at the grant date, provided the entity discloses the pro forma net income and earnings per share as if the fair-value method had been applied. The Company measures compensation cost for stock-based compensation plans as the excess, if any, of the exercise price of options granted over the fair market value of the Company’s stock at the grant date. Compensation cost is not recognized as the exercise price has historically equaled the grant date fair value of the

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underlying stock. Had the Company recognized compensation cost for these plans determined as the fair market value of the Company’s stock at the grant date and recognized over the service period, as determined using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model, the Company’s net income and earnings per share would have been reduced to the following pro forma amounts: