BPOP Popular Inc

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, March 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)(the Corporation) said today it has filed its 2005 Annual Report on Form 10-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Under the direction of the Audit Committee, management conducted a review of the accounting treatment related to the transactions between the Corporation and its subsidiaries, and Doral Financial Corporation (Doral) and R-G Financial Corporation (R-G). This review was performed given Doral's and R-G's announcements of their intention to restate their financial statements. Popular concluded after its review that its previously filed audited annual financial statements are fairly stated and no restatement is necessary. In addition, the 2005 Annual Report includes a section with a restatement of the Corporation's interim Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows for the periods ended March 31, 2005, June 30, 2005, and September 30, 2005, to correct the classification of disbursements on mortgage loans originated or acquired by a Corporation's U.S.-based mortgage and consumer lending subsidiary with the intent to sell in the secondary market from investing to operating activities. The correction did not result in a change in total cash reflected in the Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows for those periods. Furthermore, it will have no effect on the Corporation's Consolidated Statements of Income (including, but not limited to, net income and earnings per share), Consolidated Statements of Condition or Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholders' Equity. The Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows for the year ended December 31, 2005, presented in the 2005 Annual Report incorporated in Form 10-K reflects the correct year-to-date information. The Corporation's Form 10-K and Form 8-K will be available on Popular, Inc.'s web site at http://www.popular.com/ . Popular, Inc., based in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is a full-service financial services provider with operations in Puerto Rico, the United States, the Caribbean and Latin America. DATASOURCE: Popular, Inc. CONTACT: Jorge A. Junquera, Chief Financial Officer, Senior Executive Vice President, +1-787-754-1685, or Teruca Rullan, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications, +1-787-281-5170, or +1-917-679-3596, both of Popular, Inc. Web site: http://www.popularinc.com/

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