UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

FORM 11-K

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2004

OR

For the transition period from                      to                     

Commission file number 001-14793

FIRSTBANK 401 (K) RETIREMENT PLAN FOR RESIDENTS OF PUERTO RICO

(Full title of the Plan and address of the Plan, if different from that of the issuer named below)

FIRST BANCORP

1519 Ponce de León Avenue, Stop 23
Santurce, Puerto Rico 00908-0146

(Name of issuer of the securities held pursuant to the plan and the address of its principal executive office)

FirstBank 401(k) Retirement Plan for Residents of Puerto Rico

FirstBank 401(k) Retirement Plan for Residents of Puerto Rico

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Participants and Administrator of
FirstBank 401(k) Retirement Plan for Residents of Puerto Rico

In our opinion, the accompanying statements of net assets available for benefits and the related statement of changes in net assets available for benefits present fairly, in all material respects, the net assets available for benefits of FirstBank 401(k) Retirement Plan for Residents of Puerto Rico (the “Plan”) at December 31, 2004 and 2003, and the changes in net assets available for benefits for the year ended December 31, 2004 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. These financial statements are the responsibility of the Plan’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits. We conducted our audits of these statements in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Our audits were conducted for the purpose of forming an opinion on the basic financial statements taken as a whole. The supplemental Schedule of Assets (Held at End of Year) as of December 31, 2004 is presented for the purpose of additional analysis and is not a required part of the basic financial statements but is supplementary information required by the Department of Labor’s Rules and Regulations for Reporting and Disclosure under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. This supplemental schedule is the responsibility of the Plan’s management. The supplemental schedule has been subjected to the auditing procedures applied in the audit of the basic financial statements and, in our opinion, is fairly stated in all material respects in relation to the basic financial statements taken as a whole.

FirstBank 401(k) Retirement Plan for Residents of Puerto Rico

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

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FirstBank 401(k) Retirement Plan for Residents of Puerto Rico

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

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FirstBank 401(k) Retirement Plan for Residents of Puerto Rico

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FirstBank 401(k) Retirement Plan for Residents of Puerto Rico

Vesting schedule for the Bank’s matching and additional discretionary contribution is as follows:

Loans to Participants

Under the terms of the Plan, participants are allowed to borrow from their accounts up to 50% of their vested account balance or $50,000 whichever is less. Loan transactions are treated as a transfer to (from) the investment funds from (to) the Participants Loan Fund. Loans are secured by the balance in the participants’ accounts and bear interest at the rate determined by the Plan administrator at the time of the loan. At December 31, 2004 the interest rates of these loans range from 6% to 9%. Principal and interest is paid ratably through biweekly payroll deductions.

Payment of Benefits

Plan participants are permitted to make withdrawals from the Plan, subject to provisions in the Plan agreement. If a participant suffers financial hardship, as defined in the Plan agreement, the participant may request a withdrawal from his or her contributions. In the case of participant termination because of death, the entire vested amount is paid to the person or persons legally entitled thereto.

Benefits are paid in a lump-sum cash payment. If the value of the vested account is more than $5,000, the participant may elect to defer any benefit payable under the Plan until a specified future date. If benefit payments are to be deferred, the Plan will earmark the balance as part of its assets in a special account or a deposit certificate with the funds of the former member. Interest earned on such special account is paid to the participant. Such special accounts or certificates do not participate in the allocation of the Bank’s contributions or earnings of the Plan’s investments. There were no deferred vested benefits at December 31, 2004 and 2003.

Plan Expenses and Administration

Bank and participant contributions are held by AST Trust Company as custodian and managed by Milliman USA, Inc. as plan recordkeeper, both appointed by the Board of Directors of the Bank. The custodian invests cash received, interest and dividend income and makes distributions to participants.

Administrative expenses for the custodian’s and recordkeeper’s fees are paid by the Bank.

Forfeitures

Forfeited balances of terminated participants’ nonvested accounts are used to reduce future Bank contributions or used to cover administrative expenses of the Plan.

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FirstBank 401(k) Retirement Plan for Residents of Puerto Rico

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FirstBank 401(k) Retirement Plan for Residents of Puerto Rico

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FirstBank 401(k) Retirement Plan for Residents of Puerto Rico

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FirstBank 401(k) Retirement Plan for Residents of Puerto Rico

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SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirement of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the persons who administer the employee benefit plan have duly caused this annual report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.