Jan 9, 2013, 4:35pm

Oriental Financial Group Inc. (NYSE: OFG) today announced plans for the integration of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria Puerto Rico (BBVA PR), which Oriental acquired in late December, and the combined companies’ branding and business strategy.

José Rafael Fernández, President, Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman, said the acquisition is a milestone in Oriental’s long history of service, innovation and singular dedication to Puerto Rico.

“Oriental is now the best capitalized, locally controlled bank, solely focused on serving the needs of Puerto Rico’s individuals and businesses,” he said. “That is why we have named our integration program ‘Juntos Somos Más,’ which in English means ‘Together We Are More’.”

Mr. Fernández said the combined companies, now under the Oriental name, are able to deliver banking and wealth management products and services to individuals and businesses throughout Puerto Rico.

“Oriental wants to help our clients achieve more and get more done,” he said. “With our sound financial structure and a dedicated team of more than 1,700 people, our mission is to help our clients, and the communities we serve, by building and retaining wealth for them and their future generations. In so doing, we will also benefit our supportive investors, who helped make this day possible.”

Leading Market Positions

In terms of size, Oriental Bank now holds leading market positions in Puerto Rico:

• Second largest branch network, with 64 financial centers covering all key markets on the island. Before the acquisition, Oriental Bank was ranked 7^th with 28 financial centers.
• Third largest share of core retail and commercial deposits, with approximately $4.9 billion in balances, equal to 13% market share. Before, Oriental Bank was ranked 6^th with a 5% share.
• Third largest in Puerto Rico assets, with approximately $9.3 billion. Previously, Oriental Bank was ranked 5^th with $6 billion. Approximately 60% of Oriental Bank’s assets are now loans compared to 28% before.

In terms of products and services, Oriental Bank is now a leader in:

• Auto loans and leases
• Commercial lending and banking for middle market and small businesses
• Residential mortgages
• Wealth management, including trust and retirement services

Highly Complementary

Oriental and BBVA PR’s franchises are highly complementary to each other. They will provide Oriental with a strategic advantage in serving a market that desires personalized attention, unparalleled customer service, and access to a broad array of competitively priced banking and financial products and services.

• BBVA PR has substantial commercial banking and auto lending operations, and its management has significant retail and business banking experience.
• Oriental has substantial wealth management operations, and its management has significant retail and business trust and retirement planning experience.
• There is great synergy between Oriental and BBVA PR’s customer profiles.

Integration

Oriental Bank plans for a seamless integration in 2013.

• The first businesses to be combined are expected to be wealth management, residential mortgage, and auto loan and leasing.
• All lending, deposit and branch operations will be fully combined in the fourth quarter.
• To offer increased accessibility to transactional services, Oriental Bank and former BBVA PR branches will have access to each bank’s systems. Today, Oriental is offering these services at 7 branches, but will be expanding it to the rest of the network rapidly.
• ATM service will be seamless as clients will instantly have access free-of-charge to an expanded network of more than 120 ATMs throughout Puerto Rico.

Branding & Advertising

Oriental plans to streamline the look and feel of its branding to achieve a more powerful and recognizable market statement.

• The company’s logo will be “Oriental” in orange in the same typeface, with no added design. This is intended to refresh and modernize the Oriental brand focusing on simplicity and agility.
• Each product or service will be identified underneath the Oriental logo, combining Oriental’s iconic orange color with hints of purple to make the new branding more distinct and service-oriented versus the standard bank-like approach.
• Oriental plans to support the rollout of the new branding and marketing throughout 2013 with the largest advertising campaign in its history, with presence in all media outlets, including: newspaper, television, radio, billboard and internet ads, direct mail and internal and external signage to reach current customers and attract new ones.

Creating a Strong, Market Leading Institution

The acquisition of BBVA Puerto Rico’s operations completes the strategic initiative begun by Oriental in 2010 to transform itself by reducing its dependence on investment securities and wholesale funding, and expand its traditional commercial and consumer banking and wealth management services.

In connection with the acquisition, Oriental in December completed the planned deleveraging of approximately $1.3 billion on its balance sheet.

“In creating a strong, market leading institution, with a robust retail and commercial banking and financial services platform, the overarching goal is to improve Oriental’s prospects for growth, generate greater recurring revenue and income, expand the net interest margin, improve earnings stability and predictability and, ultimately, enhance our market valuation,” said Mr. Fernández.

About Oriental Financial Group

Oriental Financial Group Inc. is a diversified financial holding company that operates under U.S. and Puerto Rico banking laws and regulations, principally through its two subsidiaries, Oriental Bank and Oriental Financial Services. Now in its 49th year in business, Oriental provides a full range of commercial, consumer and mortgage banking services, as well as financial planning, trust, insurance, investment brokerage and investment banking services, primarily in Puerto Rico, through 64 financial centers. Investor information about Oriental can be found at www.orientalfg.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

The information included in this document contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management’s current expectations and involve certain risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements.

Factors that might cause such a difference include, but are not limited to (i) difficulties in integrating BBVA’s Puerto Rico operations into Oriental’s operations; (ii) the amounts by which our assumptions related to the acquisition fail to approximate actual results; (iii) the rate of growth in the economy and employment levels, as well as general business and economic conditions; (iv) changes in interest rates, as well as the magnitude of such changes; (v) the fiscal and monetary policies of the federal government and its agencies; (vi) changes in federal bank regulatory and supervisory policies, including required levels of capital; (vii) the relative strength or weakness of the consumer and commercial credit sectors and of the real estate market in Puerto Rico; (viii) the performance of the stock and bond markets; (ix) competition in the financial services industry; (x) possible legislative, tax or regulatory changes; and (xi) difficulties in combining the operations of any other acquired entity.

For a discussion of such factors and certain risks and uncertainties to which Oriental is subject, see Oriental’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011, as well as its other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Other than to the extent required by applicable law, including the requirements of applicable securities laws, Oriental assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect occurrences or unanticipated events or circumstances after the date of such statements.