Includes Benefit from Walmart Portfolio Reserve Reduction of $0.38 Per Diluted Share
STAMFORD, Conn. – Synchrony Financial (NYSE: SYF) today announced third quarter 2019 net earnings of $1.1 billion, or $1.60 per diluted share; this includes a $326 million pre-tax, $248 million after-tax, or $0.38 per diluted share benefit from a reduction in the reserve related to the sale of the Walmart consumer portfolio, which was completed in October. Highlights included*:
•    Loan receivables decreased 5% to $83.2 billion; excluding the Walmart portfolio from both periods, loan receivables grew 6%
•    Net interest income increased 4% to $4.4 billion
•    Purchase volume grew 5% to $38.4 billion; and average active accounts grew 2% to 76.7 million
•    Deposits grew $3.7 billion, or 6%, to $66.0 billion
•    Completed the sale of the Walmart portfolio on October 11, 2019
•    Expanded and extended key strategic consumer credit relationship with PayPal: will become the exclusive issuer of a Venmo co-branded consumer credit card, which is expected to launch in the second half of 2020, and extended existing PayPal relationship
•    Renewed key Retail Card partnership: DICK'S Sporting Goods
•    Renewed key Payment Solutions partnerships: Polaris, La-Z-Boy and Conn's HomePlus
•    Expanded CareCredit credit card network to include 8,500+ Walgreens® and Duane Reade® stores and Loyale™ Healthcare and signed a new partnership with St. Luke’s University Health Network
•    Paid quarterly common stock dividend of $0.22 per share and repurchased $550 million of Synchrony Financial common stock
“We continue to deliver strong results as we develop innovative and seamless digital consumer experiences driven by our technology and data investments. These capabilities have helped us grow organically, enabling the extension of key partnerships, while also helping us win new ones with fast-growing, digital-first partners. Our growth is supported by expanded acceptance and usage in our Home, Auto and CareCredit networks, and is funded through substantial growth in our direct-to-consumer deposit platform,” said Margaret Keane, Chief Executive Officer of Synchrony Financial.  “Our focus is on executing a capital allocation strategy that drives strong growth at attractive risk adjusted returns, while maintaining a strong balance sheet and the ability to return capital to shareholders.”
* All comparisons are for the third quarter of 2019 compared to the third quarter of 2018, unless otherwise noted