NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Jan. 17, 2014--Capital One Financial (COF; BBB/Stable/--) reported good results in the fourth quarter, which were in line with our expectations, and we expect this to continue. Our ratings on Capital One remain unchanged. The company posted pretax earnings of $1.3 billion for the quarter, compared with $1.65 billion in the previous quarter and $1.2 billion in fourth-quarter 2012. A combination of lower interest income (reflecting the sale of $7 billion of the higher-margin BestBuy portfolio), higher credit loss provisions (as charge-offs increased seasonally), elevated acquisition-related costs, increased representation and warranty expenses, and seasonally higher marketing expenses propelled earnings. Pretax earnings increased 27% to $6.4 billion for year-end 2013, compared with the prior year. In
