STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2018

Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Abstract]

NOTE 22 – STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION

On May 24, 2016, the Corporation’s stockholders approved the amendment and restatement of the First BanCorp. Omnibus Incentive Plan, as amended (the “Omnibus Plan”), to, among other things, increase the number of shares of common stock reserved for issuance under the Omnibus Plan, extend the term of the Omnibus Plan to May 24, 2026 and re-approve the material terms of the performance goals under the Omnibus Plan for purposes of the then effective Section 162(m) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. The Omnibus Plan provides for equity-based compensation incentives (the “awards”) through the grant of stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, restricted stock units, performance shares, cash-based awards and other stock-based awards. The Omnibus Plan authorizes the issuance of up to 14,169,807 shares of common stock, subject to adjustments for stock splits, reorganizations and other similar events. As of December 31, 2018, 6,897,855 authorized shares of common stock were available for issuance under the Omnibus Plan. The Corporation’s Board of Directors, based on the recommendation of the Corporation’s Compensation and Benefits Committee, has the power and authority to determine those eligible to receive awards and to establish the terms and conditions of any awards, subject to various limits and vesting restrictions that apply to individual and aggregate awards.

Restricted Stock

Under the Omnibus Plan, the Corporation may grant restricted stock to plan participants, subject to forfeiture upon the occurrence of certain events until the dates specified in the participant’s award agreement. While the restricted stock is subject to forfeiture and does not contain non-forfeitable dividend rights, restricted stock participants may exercise full voting rights. The restricted stock granted under the Omnibus Plan is typically subject to a vesting period. During 2018, the Corporation awarded to its independent directors 65,447 shares of restricted stock that are subject to a one-year vesting period. In addition, during 2018, the Corporation awarded 342,439 shares of restricted stock to employees; fifty percent (50%) of those shares vest in two years from the grant date and the remaining (50%) vest in three years from the grant date. Included in those 342,439 shares of restricted stock were 20,447 shares granted to retirement-eligible employees at the grant date. The total expense determined for the restricted stock awarded to retirement-eligible employees was charged against earnings at the grant date. The fair value of the shares of restricted stock granted in 2018 was based on the market price of the Corporation’s outstanding common stock on the date of the grant.

The following table summarizes the restricted stock activity in 2018 under the Omnibus Plan:

		2018
	Number of		Weighted-
	shares of		Average
	restricted		Grant Date
	stock		Fair Value

Non-vested shares at beginning of year		1,816,968	$	2.76
Granted		407,886		6.71
Forfeited		(16,000)		4.31
Vested		(1,244,744)		2.47
Non-vested shares at end of year		964,110	$	4.79

For the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, the Corporation recognized $3.4 million, $4.0 million and $3.9 million, respectively, of stock-based compensation expense related to restricted stock awards. As of December 31, 2018, there was $2.2 million of total unrecognized compensation cost related to non-vested shares of restricted stock. The weighted average period over which the Corporation expects to recognize such cost is 1.3 years.

During 2017, the Corporation awarded to its independent directors 148,424 shares of restricted stock subject to a one-year vesting period. In addition, during 2017, the Corporation awarded 951,332 shares of restricted stock to employees subject to a vesting period of two years. Included in those 951,332 shares of restricted stock were 838,332 shares granted in the first quarter of 2017 to certain senior officers consistent with the requirements of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (“TARP”) Interim Final Rule. On May 10, 2017, the United States Department of the Treasury (the “U.S. Treasury”) announced that it had sold all of its remaining 10,291,553 shares of the Corporation’s common stock. As a result of the sale by U.S. Treasury, the Corporation ceased being subject to the compensation-related restrictions under TARP, which substantially limited the Corporation’s ability to award short-term and long-term incentives to the Corporation’s executives, and the Corporation’s senior officers are no longer subject to the transferability restrictions on their shares of restricted stock. However, since the U.S. Treasury did not recover the full amount of its original investment under TARP, the senior officers forfeited 2,370,571, or 50%, of their outstanding shares of restricted stock, resulting in a reduction in the number of common shares outstanding.

The Corporation accounted for the restricted stock that it granted in 2017 prior to the U.S. Treasury’s sale of its shares at a discount from the market price of the Corporation’s outstanding common stock on the date of the grant. For the 838,332 shares of restricted stock granted under the TARP requirements, the market price was discounted assuming that 50% of the shares of restricted stock would become freely transferable and the remaining 50% would be forfeited, resulting in a fair value of $2.71 for each share of restricted stock granted under TARP requirements.

Stock-based compensation accounting guidance requires the Corporation to reverse compensation expense for any awards that are forfeited due to employee or director turnover. Quarterly changes in the estimated forfeiture rate may have a significant effect on stock-based compensation, as the effect of adjusting the rate for all expense amortization is recognized in the period in which the forfeiture estimate is changed. If the actual forfeiture rate is higher than the estimated forfeiture rate, an adjustment is made to increase the estimated forfeiture rate, which will result in a decrease in the expense recognized in the financial statements. If the actual forfeiture rate is lower than the estimated forfeiture rate, an adjustment is made to decrease the estimated forfeiture rate, which will result in an increase in the expense recognized in the financial statements. The estimated forfeiture rate did not change as a result of the restricted shares forfeited in connection with the aforementioned U.S. Treasury’s sale of the Corporation’s common stock.

Performance Units

Under the Omnibus Plan, the Corporation may award performance units to Omnibus Plan participants. During 2018, the Corporation granted 304,408 units to executives, with each unit representing the value of one share of the Corporation’s common stock. The performance units granted are for the performance period beginning January 1, 2018 and ending on December 31, 2020 and are subject to a three-year requisite service period. These awards do not contain non-forfeitable rights to dividend equivalent amounts and can only be settled in shares of the Corporation’s common stock. Included in those 304,408 performance units were 29,171 units granted to retirement-eligible executives at the grant date. The performance units will vest based on the achievement of a pre-established tangible book value per share target as of December 31, 2020. All of the performance units will vest if performance is at the pre-established performance target level or above. However, the participants may vest on 50% of the awards to the extent that performance is below the target but at 80% of the pre-established performance target level (the 80% minimum threshold), which is measured based upon the growth in the tangible book value during the performance cycle. If performance is between the 80% minimum threshold and the pre-established performance target level, the participants will vest on a proportional amount. No performance units will vest if performance is below the 80% minimum threshold.

The fair value of the performance units awarded during 2018 was based on the market price of the Corporation’s outstanding common stock on the date of the grant. For the year ended December 31, 2018, the Corporation recognized $0.6 million of stock-based compensation related to performance units. As of December 31, 2018, there was $1.3 million of total unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested performance units that the Corporation expects to recognize over the three-year requisite service period. The total expense determined for the performance units awarded to retirement-eligible executives was charged against earnings at the grant date. The total amount of compensation expense recognized reflects management’s assessment of the probability that the pre-established performance goal will be achieved. A cumulative adjustment to compensation expense is recognized in the current period to reflect any changes in the probability of achievement of the performance goals.

Salary stock

Also, effective April 1, 2013, the Corporation’s Board of Directors determined to increase the salary amounts paid to certain executive officers, primarily by paying the increased salary amounts in the form of shares of the Corporation’s common stock issued under the Omnibus Plan, instead of cash. During 2018, the Corporation issued 268,709 shares of common stock (as compared to 582,193 shares during 2017) with a weighted-average market value of $6.51 (as compared to a weighted average market value of $5.64 during 2017) as salary stock compensation. This resulted in a compensation expense of $1.7 million recorded in 2018 (as compared to $3.3 million during 2017). Effective July 1, 2018, the payment of additional salary amounts in the form of stock was eliminated in accordance with the previously disclosed revised executive compensation program.

For 2018, the Corporation withheld 96,377 shares (2017 – 195,789 shares) from the common stock paid to certain senior officers as additional compensation and 337,689 shares of restricted stock that vested during 2018 (2017- 243,102 shares) to cover employees’ payroll and income tax withholding liabilities; these shares are held as treasury shares. The Corporation paid in cash any fractional share of salary stock to which the officer was entitled. In the consolidated financial statements, the Corporation treats shares withheld for tax purposes as common stock repurchases.