TORONTO (Standard&Poor's) April 21, 2011--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its ratings and outlook on Capital One Financial Corp. (BBB/Negative/--) are not affected by the company's first-quarter 2011 earnings. Capital One posted higher income from continuing operations of $1 billion compared with $701 million in the previous quarter, primarily driven by a $305 million decline in loan loss provisions. Also, net interest income rose by $117 million, as the net interest margin expanded 29 basis points sequentially to 7.24%, spurred by higher asset yields in the company's card and auto businesses and lower cost of funds. Asset quality metrics continued to improve with net charge-offs (NCOs) in the seasoned domestic card portfolio declining for the fourth
