SHORE BANCSHARES INC

This Annual Report on Form 10-K of Shore Bancshares, Inc. and subsidiaries (the “Company” or “Shore” and “we,” “our” or “us” on a consolidated basis) contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward looking statements represent plans, estimates, objectives, goals, guidelines, expectations, intentions, projections and statements of our beliefs concerning future events, business plans, expected operating results and the assumptions upon which those statements are based. In some cases, you can identify these forward-looking statements by words like “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” or “continue” or the negative of those words and other comparable terminology, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times at, or by, which such performance or results will be achieved. We caution that the forward-looking statements are based largely on our expectations and information available at the time the statements are made and are subject to a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties that are subject to change based on factors, which are in many instances, beyond our control. Actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those contemplated, expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. You should bear this in mind when reading this Annual Report on Form 10-K and not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.

The following factors, among others, could cause our financial performance to differ materially from that expressed in such forward-looking statements:

•general economic conditions, (including the interest rate environment, government economic and monetary policies, the strength of global financial markets and inflation/deflation and supply chain issues), whether national or regional, and conditions in the lending markets in which we participate that may have an adverse effect on the demand for our loans and other products, our credit quality and related levels of nonperforming assets and loan losses, and the value and salability of the real estate that we own or that is the collateral for our loans;

•recent adverse developments in the banking industry highlighted by high-profile bank failures and the potential impact of such developments on customer confidence, liquidity, and regulatory responses to these developments;

•the Company’s ability to remediate the material weaknesses identified in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting;

•the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures;

•cybersecurity threats and the cost of defending against them;

•results of examinations of us by our regulators, including the possibility that our regulators may, among other things, require us to increase our reserve for loan losses or to write-down assets;

•changing bank regulatory conditions, policies or programs, whether arising as new legislation or regulatory initiatives, which could lead to restrictions on activities of banks generally, or our subsidiary bank in particular, more restrictive regulatory capital requirements, increased costs, including deposit insurance premiums, regulation or prohibition of certain income producing activities or changes in the secondary market for loans and other products;

•changes in market rates and prices may adversely impact the value of securities, loans, deposits and other financial instruments and the interest rate sensitivity of our balance sheet;

•our liquidity requirements could be adversely affected by changes in our assets and liabilities;

•our ability to prudently manage our growth and execute our strategy;

•impairment of our goodwill and intangible assets;

•competitive factors among financial services organizations, including product and pricing pressures and our ability to attract, develop and retain qualified banking professionals;

•the expected cost savings, synergies and other financial benefits from the acquisition of The Community Financial Corporation (“TCFC”) or any other acquisition the Company has made or may make might not be realized within the expected time frames or at all;

•the growth and profitability of non-interest or fee income being less than expected;

•the effect of legislative or regulatory developments, including changes in laws concerning taxes, banking, securities, insurance and other aspects of the financial services industry;

•the effect of any change in federal government enforcement of federal laws affecting the cannabis industry;

•the effect of changes in accounting policies and practices, as may be adopted by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”), the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and other regulatory agencies;

•potential changes in federal policy and at regulatory agencies as a result of the upcoming 2024 presidential election;

•a deterioration of the credit rating for U.S. long-term sovereign debt, actions that the U.S. government may take to avoid exceeding the debt ceiling, and uncertainties surrounding the debt ceiling and the federal budget;

•the impact of recent or future changes in Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the “FDIC”) insurance assessment rate or the rules and regulations related to the calculation of the FDIC insurance assessment amount, including any special assessments;

•the effect of fiscal and governmental policies of the U.S. federal government;

•climate change, including the enhanced regulatory, compliance, credit and reputational risks and costs; and

•geopolitical conditions, including acts or threats of terrorism, actions taken by the United States or other governments in response to acts of terrorism, and/or military conflicts, including the war between Russian and Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East, which could impact business and economic conditions in the United States and abroad.

You should also consider carefully the Risk Factors contained in Item 1A of Part I of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, which address additional factors that could cause our actual results to differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements and could materially and adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition. The risks discussed in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are factors that, individually or in the aggregate, management believes could cause our actual results to differ materially from expected and historical results. You should understand that it is not possible to predict or identify all such factors. Consequently, you should not consider such disclosures to be a complete discussion of all potential risks or uncertainties.

The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and, except to the extent required by federal securities laws, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which the statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. In addition, we cannot assess the impact of each factor on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements.