Capital One US Credit-Card Delinquencies Fall In December

    DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

Capital One Financial Corp. (COF) said delinquencies at its U.S. credit-card business dropped in December as charge-offs followed suit.

While charge-offs--loans banks don't expect to be able to collect--and delinquencies remain below 2010 levels, the progress has been uneven.

The company's U.S. credit-card business saw 30-day delinquencies drop to 3.66% in December from 3.73% the previous month, and edge down to 5.18% from 5.22% internationally. The auto-loan 30-day delinquency rate rose to 7.37% from 7.1%.

At Capital One's U.S. card business, net charge-offs fell to 3.98% last month from 4.29% in November. Internationally, the rate was up at 5.76% from 5.32%, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Auto-financing charge-offs rose to 2.25% from 1.98%.

Capital One in October reported that its loan write-offs and delinquencies continued to fall in the third quarter on a year-to-year basis, though the improvements showed signs of slowing and late payments were up sequentially.

Capital One, which transformed itself from a credit-card lender to a bank just before the financial crisis hit, has lately benefited from improving credit quality and has been working to expand through acquisitions.

Shares closed Friday at $48.89 and were inactive premarket. The stock is up 21% over the past three months.

--By Ben Fox Rubin, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-3108; [e-mail]