TORONTO (Standard&Poor's) Jan. 20, 2012--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today said that its ratings and outlook on Capital One Financial Corp. (BBB/Negative/--) are unchanged following its review of the company's fair fourth-quarter 2011 earnings. Operating performance came in below our expectations for the quarter but met our expectations for fiscal 2011. Operating earnings ($411 million compared with $865 million in the previous quarter) declined substantially in the quarter due to higher marketing and operating expenses associated with two acquisitions expected to close in 2012, including litigation reserves, and higher provisioning levels due to seasonally higher net charge offs (NCOs) and loan growth. Period-end loan balances rose nearly $6 billion to $135 billion, driven by growth in Capital One's
