FirstBank closes 2021 with "Another record quarter" Tags: Business Register to receive the free Newsletter more in outstanding UPS businesses

After reporting that the institution closed 2021 with “another record quarter”, the main executive of FirstBank, aurelio German, expressed optimistic that Puerto Rico continues to continue in economic rebound this year and estimated in more than $ 30 millionIn technology to strengthen your digital services.

“Vemos cómo la economía de Puerto Rico siguió dando signos de mejora en múltiples frentes pese al reto de ómicron”, expresó Alemán en entrevista con Negocios luego de que la matriz del banco, First Bancorp.(NYSE: FBP), will present the results of the fourth quarter of 2021 (Q4).

German observed that the increase in cases of COVID-19 registered at the end of the year "could be much more disruptive," which was why it was encouraging to observe stability and growth in the indicators that monitor, as foreign investment, revenue of the treasury and activity ofmanufacture.

"We have seen that the restored property portfolios have decreased greatly," he said as another example, to which he added the reports of retail and cars."Everything is evidence of economic activity.It is not simply an idea, but the expectation is to continue ".

Alemán added that the approval of the debt adjustment plan "is positive because it removes additional uncertainty and gives the government to focus and dedicate itself to using funds that are still pending, assigned and approved".

"Well solid position"

Regarding the financial results and immediate plans of the institution, German stressed that he received 2022 in "a very solid position to strive now in growth".

“We are extremely excited by another record quarter for our franchise by reporting solid results through all business metrics. Generamos $73.6 million in net income in the fourth quarter, representing $ 0.35 per diluted action, and we achieved an income before taxes and provision of $ 104.9 million, ”he explained.

As for annual net income, 2021 ended with $ 281 million, while the previous year closed with $ 102.3 millions.

La compañía, que también tiene operaciones en Islas Vírgenes y el estado de Florida, cerró el 2021 con una cartera de préstamos de $11,100 millones, $75.5 million less than the previous quarter.

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This loss, German explained mainly to the one they received early with large loans in Virgin and Florida islands.

However, he stressed that the new credit demand was felt: "The loans for the fourth quarter were $ 1.3 billion, the best quarter we have had this year, with robust originations in Puerto Rico and Florida".

German indicated that this result is aligned with the business goal of increasing loans "and we see that our goal of lending itself in this quarter".In the line of consumption loans in particular they saw an increase of $ 81.9 million in the last three months of the year.

"In previous quarters there were other resources such as PPP loans (as the payroll protection program provided by the Federal Administration of small businesses, SBA) and federal stimuli," he contextualized.

Al abordar cómo va la integración de clientes de Santander, Alemán apuntó al reclutamiento de suficiente personal como el principal reto, porque “tenemos muchas posiciones vacantes, como resultado de los cambios en el mercado laboral”.

For now, he informed that the telephone service channel “statistics at Call Center are already at its normal level.In January we succeed.We need to complete the recruitment in the branches ".

These efforts go hand in hand with "a great investment in additional digital services", which estimated that it will exceed $ 30 million.

Como ya cuentan con portales renovados o de reciente creación para manejo de hipotecas, originación de préstamos y banca digital, Alemán adelantó que uno de los objetivos concretos es lanzar una plataforma para préstamos comerciales.

"We want to resume our service notes that affected the challenges of the pandemic," he said.

Regarding credit quality, it was reported that by the end of the year the non -productive assets decreased $ 14.3 millions hasta $158.1 million, compared to $ 172.4 million registered as of September 30, 2021.

The total deposits, with the exclusion of negotiated and government deposits, increased to $ 14.2 billion as of December 31, an increase of $ 64.2 millions.Meanwhile, government deposits dropped $ 254.6 million for a total of $ 3.3 billion.The reduction of this line of deposits in Puerto Rico was $ 141.3 millions en Puerto Rico, y de $114 millones en Islas Vírgenes.While in the state of Florida there was a slight increase of $ 700,000.