American Express Posts Card Write-Offs at 10 Percent (Update1)
Share | Email | Print | A A A
By Peter Eichenbaum
June 15 (Bloomberg) -- American Express Co., the largest U.S. credit-card company by purchases, said uncollectible loans declined in May, aided by the sale of consumer debts written off in previous months.
American Express wrote off 10 percent of managed U.S. card loans, compared with 10.1 percent for April, the New York-based company said today in a federal filing. The decline reflects proceeds from selling bad loans that were already charged off, the filing said. Separately, Capital One Financial Corp. reported write-offs advanced to 9.4 percent from 8.56 percent.
Credit-card profits have been under pressure this year as the U.S. jobless rate climbed to 9.4 percent in May, the highest since 1983. Defaults historically rise and fall with U.S. unemployment because consumers are more prone to default when they lose their jobs. Analysts at KBW Inc. predicted charge-offs at American Express will reach 12.6 percent in 2010.
“Credit quality is likely to deteriorate given the state of the economy and rising unemployment,” KBW’s Sanjay Sakhrani said in a June 12 report.
Loans 30 days or more overdue at American Express declined to 4.7 percent from 4.9 percent in April, while at Capital One, based in McLean, Virginia, late payments fell to 4.9 percent from 5.04 percent. Capital One estimated its charge-off rate was understated by half a percentage point, citing a surge in the number of bankruptcies that delayed processing of that data.
The figures include loans that lenders retain on their books and those that have been sold to investors. American Express was little changed at $25.12 in 1 p.m. New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Capital One dropped 2.1 percent to $23.43. |
