First BanCorp. Up 5% On Upbeat Quarterly Results

(RTTNews) - Shares of First BanCorp. (FBP) are rising more than 5% in the morning trade on Thursday after reporting better-than-expected first-quarter earnings.

The company reported net income of $82.6 million, or $0.41 per share, for the first quarter, compared with $61.2 million, or $0.28 per share in the same quarter a year ago.

On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.32 per share.

Net interest income increased to $185.62 million for the first quarter from $176.27 million a year ago.

First BanCorp. said that provision for credit losses was a net benefit of $13.8 million for the first quarter, reflecting, among other things, continued positive long-term outlook of certain macroeconomic variables and their impact on qualitative reserves.

FBP, currently at $13.93, has traded in the range of $10.88-$16.62 in the past 52 weeks.