8-K

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20549

Form 8-K

Current Report
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of Earliest Event Reported): March 2, 2007

FIRST BANCORP.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

001-14793
(Commission File Number)

Puerto Rico	66-0561882
(State or Other Jurisdiction	(I.R.S. Employer
of Incorporation)	Identification No.)

1519 Ponce de Leon
San Juan, Puerto Rico 00908-0146
(Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code)

(787) 729 8200
(Registrant’s Telephone Number, including Area Code)

Not applicable
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

¨      Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

¨      Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

¨      Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

¨      Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Item 8.01     Other Events.

On March 2, 2007, First BanCorp (or the “Corporation”) issued a press release which announced that the Board of Directors has declared the next payment of dividends on Common, Series A through E Preferred and Trust Preferred I & II shares for stockholders of record as of March 15, 2007. A copy of the press release is incorporated herein by reference from Exhibit 99.1.

Item 9.01     Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d)     Exhibits

Exhibit No.	Description
99.1	Press Release dated March 2, 2007

SIGNATURE

     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

Date: March 6, 2007	FIRST BANCORP
	By:	/s/ Fernando Scherrer
	Name:	Fernando Scherrer
	Title:	Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Exhibit Index

Exhibit No.	Description
99.1	Press Release dated March 2, 2007

EX-99.1

Exhibit 99.1

Alan Cohen
Senior Vice President, Marketing and Public Relations
Office (787) 729-8256
alan.cohen@firstbankpr.com

FIRST BANCORP ANNOUNCES PAYMENT OF COMMON, PREFERRED AND TRUST PREFERRED DIVIDENDS

     San Juan, Puerto Rico, March 2, 2007 — First BanCorp (NYSE:FBP) today announced that the Board of Directors has declared the next payment of dividends on Common, Series A through E Preferred and Trust Preferred I & II shares. Common stockholders of record as of March 15, 2007 will receive the 47^th consecutive quarterly dividend payment declared by First BanCorp’s Board of Directors, in the amount of $0.07 per share for the 1st Quarter of 2007, payable on March 30, 2007.

The estimated dividend amounts per share, record dates and payment dates for the Series A through E Preferred Shares are:

Series	$Per/share	Record Date	Payment Date
A	0.1484375	March 29, 2007	April 2, 2007
B	0.17395833	March 15, 2007	April 2, 2007
C	0.1541666	March 15, 2007	April 2, 2007
D	0.15104166	March 15, 2007	April 2, 2007
E	0.14583333	March 15, 2007	April 2, 2007

Approval was obtained as a part of First BanCorp’s previously announced agreement with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

About First BanCorp
First BanCorp is the parent corporation of FirstBank Puerto Rico, a state-chartered commercial bank with operations in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Florida; of FirstBank Insurance Agency; and of Ponce General Corporation. First BanCorp, FirstBank Puerto Rico and FirstBank Florida, formerly UniBank, the thrift subsidiary of Ponce General, all operate within U.S. banking laws and

regulations. The Corporation operates a total of 153 financial services facilities throughout Puerto Rico, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, and Florida. Among the subsidiaries of FirstBank Puerto Rico are Money Express, a finance company; First Leasing and Car Rental, a car and truck rental leasing company; and FirstMortgage, a mortgage origination company. In the U.S. Virgin Islands, FirstBank operates First Insurance VI, an insurance agency; First Trade, Inc., a foreign corporation management company; and First Express, a small loan company. First BanCorp’s common and preferred shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange, under the symbols FBP, FBPPrA, FBPPrB, FBPPrC, FBPPrD and FBPPrE.

Safe Harbor
The Corporation wishes to caution readers not to place undue reliance on any such “forward-looking statements,” which speak only as of the date made, and to advise readers that various factors, including the completion of the sale of shares of common stock to Scotiabank, First BanCorp’s ability to return to compliance with the reporting requirements under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the ability to settle the shareholder litigation and SEC inquiry relating to First BanCorp’s recent restatement of its financial statements, the interest rate risk relating to the secured loans to Doral and R&G Financial, the continued repayment by Doral and R&G Financial of their outstanding loans, the impact on net income of the reduction in net interest income resulting from the repayment of a significant amount of the commercial loans to Doral, the impact of the cease and desist orders entered into with the regulators on the Corporation’s future operations and results, the Corporation’s ability to continue to implement the terms of the consent orders, FirstBank’s ability to issue brokered certificates of deposit, its liquidity, the impact of the Corporation’s restated and more current financial statements on customers and lenders, the ability to fund operations, changes in the interest rate environment, including the impact on the Corporation’s financial statements for periods prior to April 3, 2006 of changes in the value of interest rate swaps resulting from changes in interest rates, regional and national economic conditions, competitive and regulatory factors and legislative changes, could affect the Corporation’s financial performance and could cause the Corporation’s actual results for future periods to differ materially from those anticipated or projected. The Corporation does not undertake, and specifically disclaims any obligation, to update any “forward-looking statements” to reflect occurrences or unanticipated events or circumstances after the date of such statements.

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