Capital One swings to loss in 4Q following tax hit

Capital One Financial recorded a $971 million loss in the fourth quarter, due mainly to the impact of recently enacted tax legislation and other one-time charges.

The tax law took a $1.77 billion bite out of Capital One’s quarterly earnings, nearly 90% of which was related to the company’s writedown of its deferred tax assets. The company, with $366 billion of assets, earned $791 million in the fourth quarter of 2016.

Capital One branch
The consent order between the Federal Reserve and Capital One required the bank to submit progress reports on its efforts to improve its risk management functions.

The McLean, Va.-based firm also took a $169 million hit for a mortgage-related legal settlement, a $113 charge related to its portfolio of tax medallion loans, and a $76 million restructuring charge, details of which were not disclosed in a press release Tuesday.

Total net revenue was $7.0 billion, up 7% from the same period a year earlier. The gains were partially offset, however, by a 6% increase in noninterest expenses, which totaled $3.8 billion, due largely to a substantial increase in marketing expenditures.

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Consumer loan growth was a bright spot. In Capital One’s domestic credit card unit, average loans were $8.5 billion, up 9% from the same period a year earlier. Auto loans increased 14%, to $53.7 billion.

During the fourth quarter, Capital One’s domestic credit card chargeoff rate rose to 5.08%, up from 4.66% in the same period the year before. The company recorded a loan-loss provision of $1.93 billion, up 9% from the fourth quarter of 2016.

In the company’s press release, Capital One CEO Richard Fairbank focused on the firm’s full-year results, rather than its fourth-quarter performance, which was skewed by one-time charges. For the full year it earned nearly $2 billion, compared to $3.8 billion in 2016.

“In 2017, we continued to grow loans and revenue. We improved our efficiency. Our digital and technology transformation continued to gain momentum,” he said.

Capital One’s shares were down 1.6% in after-hours trading Tuesday.

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Earnings Tax reform Credit cards Consumer lending
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