TORONTO (Standard&Poor's) May 12, 2009--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today said it revised its outlook on FirstBank Puerto Rico to negative from stable. At the same time, Standard&Poor's affirmed its 'BB+' long-term counterparty credit rating on FirstBank Puerto Rico. "The negative outlook reflects our increased concerns over the rapid deterioration in credit quality showing up in elevated nonperforming assets (NPAs) and net charge-offs (NCOs); this points to higher reserves in future," said Standard&Poor's credit analyst Lidia Parfeniuk. We expect that rising credit costs will continue to pressure operating earnings growth and capital ratios. We are factoring in material additions to nonperforming levels (NPA including delinquencies/total assets stood at 7.14% at March 31, 2009 while
