The institution's CEO celebrated the "solid performance" of the first-quarter 2025 results and said the bank is ready to face the uncertain economic climate.
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Apple Pay, Apple's contactless payment service, and the Apple Wallet digital wallet will be available at some point this year to First Bank customers, who already have access to other digital wallets such as Samsung Pay and Google Pay for Mastercard cards.
That was announced by First Bank president and CEO Aurelio Alemán when the bank released its first-quarter 2025 financial results.
"The Apple Pay project is underway. Some vendors are involved in the execution and there are defined priorities and timelines. But you should see that happen during this year, combined with other functionalities we continue to improve in our digital space," Alemán said.
First-Quarter Results: "Solid Performance"
The First Bank CEO expressed satisfaction with the first-quarter 2025 financial results, which showed net income of $77.1 million ($0.47 per diluted share), an increase from $75.7 million ($0.46) in the fourth quarter of 2024 and $73.5 million ($0.44) in the first quarter of last year.
"We started the year with another quarter of solid performance for the franchise, highlighted by encouraging margin expansion, positive operating leverage and solid profitability metrics. We generated $77 million in net income, grew pre-tax pre-provision income 7% to $125 million and recorded a return on average assets of 1.64%," compared with 1.56% in the prior quarter, Alemán said.
Net interest income rose to $212.4 million in the first quarter of 2025, up from $209.3 million in the prior quarter and $196.5 million in the first quarter of 2024.
Loans: Total loans decreased by $71.7 million, totaling $12,700 million, down 0.5% from the prior quarter. This was due to a decrease in the commercial loan portfolio in Puerto Rico, Alemán said.
The allowance for credit losses (ACL) increased to 1.95%, compared with 1.91% in the prior quarter.
The provision for credit losses increased to $24.8 million, compared with $20.9 million in the prior quarter. The increase was driven primarily by higher provisions in the commercial and construction loan portfolios, as a result of a deterioration in the economic outlook reflected in the projected commercial real estate (CRE) price index.
Deposits: Core deposits increased by $29 million, reaching $12,900 million, while collateralized government deposits decreased by $82.1 million, totaling $3,400 million.
"Deposit stability allowed us to redeploy cash flows from our investment portfolio into higher-yielding assets, while improving our funding profile through the paydown of higher-cost wholesale borrowings," Alemán noted.
In other words, because the money in its deposits remained stable, the bank was able to invest it in more profitable options while paying down its more expensive debt, improving its overall financial position.
On another note, the First Bank CEO explained that the bank resumed its share repurchase program in the first quarter of 2025. "We repurchased $22 million (in shares) in the first quarter and expect to complete another $28 million in April, which will reach the second-quarter target of $50 million in common shares," he noted.
Other First-Quarter 2025 Results:
Expense management discipline resulted in an efficiency ratio of 49.6%, compared with 51.6% in the prior quarter.
Assets: Cash and cash equivalents totaled $1,300 million, compared with $1,200 million the previous quarter. Available liquidity represented 18.76% of total assets, compared with 17.27% the previous quarter.
Return on average assets was 1.64% and return on average equity was 17.90%.
Financial uncertainty
Like other financial institutions, First Bank is monitoring global economic changes and how they could affect Puerto Rico.
"Despite growing concern about global trade, tariffs and other potential policy changes that will affect markets around the world, we remain focused on our disciplined approach to delivering consistent results and creating value for all our stakeholders. Our teams have overcome multiple challenges over the past decade and have a proven track record of successfully managing unforeseen conditions," Alemán said.
This content was translated with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
