Moody’s: “Big 6” Card Issuers Set for Profit Growth

The six largest credit card issuers in the U.S. could see a significant gain in earnings this year, Moody’s Investor Services says. Find out which factors might play the biggest part in delivering profits to investors.

The “big six” credit card issuers in the U.S. — JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Capital One Financial Corp., American Express Co. and Discover Financial Services — are set to enjoy substantial growth in profits over the remainder of 2012, a report from Moody’s Investor Service suggests.

The key driver: Moody’s expects the issuers to benefit from improvements to the quality of their respective assets. Specifically, Moody’s anticipates a 15 to 20 percent decline in charge-offs, a Marketwatch report says.

“Together with expected balance growth of about 5%, continued improvement in asset quality should lead to a significant increase in profitability this year, with pre-tax profits likely to go up by about 35%,” said Moody’s Curt Beaudouin.

The full report from Marketwatch is available online.