FirstBank Puerto Rico sells participation in PREPA line of credit

First BanCorp. announced that its subsidiary, FirstBank Puerto Rico, sold on March 10, 2017 its outstanding participation in a line of credit to the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA), reducing its direct exposure to Puerto Rico government related credits. Gross proceeds from the sale have resulted in a slight incremental loss of approximately $570 thousand as compared to the adjusted book balance, net of reserves.

“We made the determination to prudently reduce our direct exposure to the Puerto Rico government. This sale reduces our year end NPAs by approximately 9%. Credit quality improvement remains a top priority for our team and this transaction contributes to our continuing efforts,” explained First BanCorp. President and Chief Executive Officer Aurelio Alemán.

First BanCorp. is the parent corporation of FirstBank Puerto Rico, a state-chartered commercial bank with operations in Puerto Rico, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and Florida, and of FirstBank Insurance Agency. Among the subsidiaries of FirstBank Puerto Rico are First Federal Finance Corp. and First Express, both small loan companies, and FirstBank Puerto Rico Securities, a broker-dealer subsidiary. First BanCorp’s shares of common stock trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “FBP.”