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

FIRST BANCORP ANNOUNCES PAYMENT OF PREFERRED DIVIDENDS

San Juan, Puerto Rico, January 4, 2008 — First BanCorp (NYSE:FBP) announced today that the Board of Directors of First BanCorp has declared the next payment of dividends on First BanCorp’s Series A through E Preferred Shares.

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	January 29, 2008	January 31, 2008
B		0.17395833	January 15, 2008	January 31, 2008
C		0.1541666	January 15, 2008	January 31, 2008
D		0.15104166	January 15, 2008	January 31, 2008
E		0.14583333	January 15, 2008	January 31, 2008

Approval was obtained as 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, 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, 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

This press release may contain “forward-looking statements” concerning First BanCorp’s (the “Corporation”) future economic performance. The words or phrases “expect,” “anticipate,” “look forward,” “should,” “believes” and similar expressions are meant to identify “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation reform Act of 1995. 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 deteriorating economic conditions in Puerto Rico, interest rate risk relating to the secured loans to Doral Financial Corporation and R&G Financial Corporation, 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 consent order with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on the Corporation’s future operations and results, the Corporation’s ability to continue to implement the terms of the consent order, FirstBank’s ability to issue brokered certificates of deposit, its liquidity, the ability to fund operations, changes in the interest rate environment, the deteriorating regional and national economic conditions, including the risks arising from credit and other risks of the Corporation’s lending and investment activities, particularly the condo conversion loans in its Miami Agency, any need to classify additional loans as non-performing loans as a result of the deterioration in the economic conditions of Puerto Rico or the Florida market or for other reasons, 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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