Synchrony says quarter-to-date spending ‘a little bit lighter’ than expected

While presenting at the Goldman Sachs U.S. Financial Services Conference, Synchrony (SYF) CEO Brian Doubles and CFO Brian Wenzel were asked what spending looks like quarter-to-date and about any noticeable differences from prior quarters, to which the executives replied in part: “When you think about the growth of the business, we reported this morning end of period loans up 1.7%. So you did see a little bit of seasonal tick up October-November, in all honesty, a little bit lighter than our expectations. As we entered into the quarter and a lot of that was more in the October timeframe, where we thought it was going to – we’re going to see a little bit more of a ramp up as we moved towards the holiday season. Didn’t necessarily happen, but it’s been relatively stable… Obviously, this is all impacted by the modest credit actions that we put in place, both on a volume side and in new account side. So, what’s a little bit unclear is you have less days and one less weekend days as we get towards actual Christmas. So, we’re constructive now. But again, a little bit lighter than our expectations.”