Capital One Financial Corp.

1680 Capital One Dr.

Year founded: 1995

Industry: Financial services

Post 200 Category: Top 125 Companies

Revenue: $10.69 Billion

Net Income/Loss: $1.54 Billion

Earnings per share: $6.21

Dividend: $0.11

Stockholder equity: $8.39 Billion

Auditor: Ernst & Young LLP

Stock: COF

Assets: $53.75 Billion

Market capitalization: $18.49 Billion

52-week high: 84.75 1/3/2005

52-week low: 61.15 5/10/2004

Chairman and CEO: Richard D. Fairbank

CFO: Gary L. Perlin

Employees: 15000

Local employees: 875

Description: Capital One Financial is one of the nation's largest credit card issuers, with customers in about a third of U.S. households. The company, which marked its 10th anniversary in 2004, grew into a giant in this industry by figuring out how to get its credit cards into the wallets of people with less-than-perfect credit ratings.

Developments: Capital One worried some analysts by spending about $511 million in marketing during the fourth quarter of 2004 — more than some of the company's larger rivals — to become known as the credit card company with the ad slogan, "What's in your wallet?" Most of the company's revenue comes from its credit card business, and the company regularly introduces new types of cards, such as an airline travel credit card called "Go Miles" that lets customers earn flight miles on any airline. The company is diversifying its interests, though. In 2004, Capital One signed definitive agreements to acquire HFS Group, a British-based equity loan broker and Onyx Acceptance Corp., an auto lender. This year, Capital One acquired online mortgage and home equity lender eSmartloan of Kansas for $155 million in cash, and the retail bank Hibernia Corp. of New Orleans for $5.35 billion. The Hibernia deal gives Capital One its first network of branches — Hibernia has more than 300 locations in Louisiana and Texas — and marks the first time a credit card company has bought a banking company (the reverse is more common). Capital One first said in 2003 that it was interested in buying a retail bank to diversify its balance sheet. The company suffered its share of public relations embarrassments last year as well. In July, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed an insider-trading lawsuit against former chief financial officer David M. Willey, accusing him of improperly selling stock before possible regulatory actions were taken against the company in 2002. Willey allegedly made more than $1 million from the sale, which was made in advance of a negative review by bank inspectors. In December, Minnesota's attorney general sued two subsidiaries of the company, contending that ads for their "No Hassle" credit cards were misleading. The lawsuit alleges that ads suggest that Capital One's cards, unlike competing cards, would bear interest rates that remain at 4.99 percent. However, the suit alleged, customers were surprised to find their interest rates jumped to as much as 25.9 percent if they were late in paying their bills.

Executive Compensation
Chairman, President and CEO: Richard D. Fairbank
Total Cash: $0.00
Total Compensation: $29,502,047.00