FIRST BANCORP /PR/

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED

PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

Shareholders and the Board of Directors of First BanCorp.

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Opinions on the Financial Statements and Internal Control

We

have audited the accompanying consolidated

statements of financial condition of First

BanCorp. (the “Company”) as of December

the related

income, comprehensive

income, cash

flows, and

stockholders’

equity

for each

of the

years in

the three-year

period ended

2025, and

the related

notes (collectively

to as

the

“financial statements”).

We

also have audited the

Company’s internal

control over financial reporting

as of December 31, 2025,

based

on criteria

in Internal

Control

– Integrated

Framework:

(2013) issued

by

the Committee

of Sponsoring

Organizations

of

the Treadway Commission (COSO).

In our opinion,

the financial statements

referred to above

present fairly,

in all material

respects, the financial

position of the

Company

as of

of its

operations and

its cash

flows for

each of

in the

three-year period

in conformity

with accounting

principles generally

accepted in

the United

States of

America. Also

in our

opinion, the Company

maintained, in all

material respects, effective

internal control over

financial reporting as

based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework:

(2013) issued by COSO.

Basis for Opinions

The

is

for

these

for

control

over

reporting,

and

for

its

of

the

of

control

over

reporting,

in

the

accompanying

Report

on

Control

over

Reporting.

Our

is

to

express

an

opinion

on

the

and an

opinion on

the Company’s

reporting based

on our

audits.

We

are a

public

firm registered

with

the

Public

Company

Board

(United

States)

(PCAOB)

and

are

to

be

independent with

respect to

the Company

in accordance

U.S. federal

securities laws and

the applicable

rules and

of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We

conducted our audits in accordance

with the standards of the PCAOB. Those

standards require that we plan and

perform the audits

to obtain reasonable

assurance about whether

the financial statements are

free of material misstatement,

whether due to error

or fraud,

and whether effective internal control over financial

reporting was maintained in all material respects.

Our

audits

of

the

performing

to

assess

the

risks

of

misstatement

of

the

statements, whether due to error

or fraud, and performing procedures that

respond to those risks. Such procedures

included examining,

on

a

test basis,

evidence

the

amounts

and

disclosures

in

the

Our

audits

also

the

used

and

made

by

as

well

as

the

overall

presentation

of

the

financial statements. Our audit

of internal control over

financial reporting included obtaining

an understanding of internal control

over

financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness

exists, and testing and evaluating the design

and operating effectiveness

of internal

control based

on the

assessed risk.

Our audits

also included

performing such

other procedures

as we

considered necessary

in the circumstances.

We

believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions.

Definition and Limitations of Internal Control Over

Financial Reporting

A company’s

internal control over financial reporting is a

process designed to provide reasonable

assurance regarding the reliability of

financial reporting and

the preparation of

financial statements for

external purposes in

accordance with generally

accepted accounting

principles.

A

company’s

control

over

those

and

that

(1)

pertain

to

the

of

records

that,

in

detail,

and

fairly

reflect

the

and

dispositions

of

the

assets

of

the

company; (2) provide

reasonable assurance that

transactions are recorded

as necessary to permit

preparation of financial

statements in

generally accepted

accounting principles,

receipts and

expenditures of

the company

are being

made only

in

with

authorizations

of

and

of

the

company;

and

(3)

provide

prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition,

use, or disposition of the company’s

assets that could have a material effect

on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent

limitations, internal control

over financial reporting may

not prevent or detect

misstatements. Also, projections

of any evaluation

of effectiveness to

future periods are

subject to the

risk that controls

may become inadequate

because of changes

in

conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or

procedures may deteriorate.

Critical Audit Matter

The

audit

matter

communicated

below

is a

matter

arising

from

the

current

period

audit

of

the

that

was

communicated or required

to be communicated

to the audit

committee and that:

(1) relates to accounts

or disclosures that

are material

to the

and (2)

involved our

especially challenging,

subjective, or

complex judgments.

The communication

of the

audit

matter

does

not

alter

in

any

way

our

opinion

on

the

taken

as

a

whole,

and

we

are

not,

by

communicating

the

audit

matter

below,

a

opinion

on

the

audit

matter

or

on

the

or

disclosures to which it relates.

Allowance for Credit Losses – Selection and Weighting

of Economic Scenarios

As described

in Notes

1 and

4 to

statements, the

allowance for

(“ACL”) for

is an

of

credit

losses

over

the

life

of

assets

carried

at

cost

and

off-balance-

sheet credit exposures.

The calculation

of the

ACL for

finance leases,

is primarily

measured based

on a

probability of

default /

loss given

default

modeled approach. The

estimate of the probability

of default and loss

given default assumptions

uses one or more

of

current

and

by

segment,

such

as:

rate;

housing

and

real

estate

price

indices;

rates;

market

risk

factors;

and

gross

product,

and

throughout Puerto

Virgin

Islands, and

the State

of Florida.

The economic

scenarios are

chosen quarterly

and the

given to

each economic

scenario for

the different

categories depends

on a

variety of

factors including

recent economic

events, leading national and regional economic indicators, and industry

trends.

We

identified the auditing

of economic scenarios

as a critical audit

matter as the selection

of the economic scenarios

and weighting of

the

judgment,

which

in

turn,

auditor

and

audit

effort,

the

need

for

professionals

with

skill

and

knowledge.

the

impact

of

these

represents a significant portion of the ACL for loans and finance leases.

The primary procedures we performed to address the critical audit matter

included:

●

Testing

the

of

over

the

of

the

selection

and

of

controls addressing:

o

Management’s review and

approval of the economic scenarios and the weightings applied.

o

review

of

the

completeness

and

of

data

used

as

a

basis

for

modeling

the

scenarios, and the relevance and reliability of data from external

sources.

o

Management’s review of

the reasonableness of the results of the allowance for credit losses calculation.

●

Substantively

testing

process,

their

and

for

selection and weightings applied, which included:

o

Evaluation of the reasonableness of economic scenarios selected and

weightings applied.

o

Evaluation of the completeness and accuracy of data inputs used as a basis for

modeling.

o

Evaluation, with

the assistance

of professionals

with specialized

skill and

knowledge, of

the reasonableness

of both

scenarios provided

by external

sources and

of their

application in

the determination

of the

ACL for loans.

We

have served as the Company’s

auditor since 2018.

/s/

Crowe LLP

Atlanta, Georgia

February 27, 2026

Stamp No. DLLP224-69 of the

Puerto Rico Society of Certified

Public Accountants was affixed to

the record copy of this report.