First BanCorp Announces Payment of Common and Preferred Dividends

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Sept. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- First BanCorp 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 September 15, 2006 will receive the 45th consecutive quarterly dividend payment declared by First BanCorp's Board of Directors, in the amount of $0.07 per share for the 3rd Quarter of 2006, payable on September 29, 2006.

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

Series $Per/share Record Date Payment Date A 0.1484375 September 28, 2006 October 2, 2006 B 0.17395833 September 15, 2006 October 2, 2006 C 0.1541666 September 15, 2006 October 2, 2006 D 0.15104166 September 15, 2006 October 2, 2006 E 0.14583333 September 15, 2006 October 2, 2006

Regulatory approvals were obtained as a part of First BanCorp's previously announced agreement with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

"Our 45th consecutive dividend to common shareholders is evidence of First BanCorp's continued operational and financial success, as well as our continued commitments to our shareholders," said Luis Beauchamp, First BanCorp President and CEO.

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 139 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 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 consent orders on the Corporation's future operations and results, FirstBank's ability to issue brokered certificates of deposit, its liquidity, the results of the Corporation's continuing review of the accounting judgments reflected in its historical financial statements, the impact of the announced restatement on the Corporation's customers and lenders, the ability to fund operations, changes in the interest rate environment, 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.

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