NY -- Standard & Poor's CreditWire 12/22/97 -- Standard & Poor's revised its outlook to negative from stable on FirstBank Puerto Rico. Standard & Poor's also affirmed its double-'B'-plus subordinate debt rating and its triple-'B'-minus counterparty rating on the company. Standard & Poor's revised its outlook due to the bank's higher level of consumer loan charge-offs and its direct impact to core profitability. Since 1993 FirstBank embarked on a strategy to redefine its business from a savings bank concentrated in real estate lending to its current profile of a consumer bank. As a result, the bank generated a high volume of consumer loans over the past three years, which were targeted to a higher risk profile borrower. As this portfolio
