NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) April 21, 2009--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today said that U.S. Bancorp's (USB; AA/Stable/A-1+) rising loan losses in first-quarter 2009 do not affect the rating. The company reported a respectable quarter under the circumstances, although clearly marked by rising loan losses. However, we expect loan deterioration to continue into 2010 so that subsequent quarters could become weaker. Core net income (excluding gains on sale) improved to $473 million in the first quarter from $313 million in fourth-quarter 2008. The core pretax margin was 15% versus 9%. The improvement resulted from a smaller addition to reserves as well as very strong mortgage banking results, with income of $233 million versus $23 million. These offset securities losses
