NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Jan. 21, 2009--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that U.S. Bancorp's (USB; AA/Stable/A-1+) $330 million fourth-quarter after-tax net income (a 42.7% decline on a sequential-quarter basis) does not affect the rating. Annual net income was $2.9 billion, or a 32% decline year over year. The lower fourth-quarter earnings were due to higher credit provisions and security write-downs in the investment portfolio. Although reported income was lower, loan and deposit growth stayed strong despite the challenging business cycle, and capital measures remain strong. We expect 2009 earnings to be lower given the rising recessionary pressures that will continue to elevate credit related expenses. But we expect them to stay manageable in the context of USB's
