June 15 (Bloomberg) -- Capital One Financial Corp., the Virginia credit-card lender that’s returning federal bailout money, said uncollectible U.S. card loans rose in May.

Capital One wrote off 9.41 percent of U.S. card loans on an annualized basis, compared with 8.56 percent reported for April, the McLean-based bank said today in a federal filing. Loans 30 days or more overdue declined to 4.9 percent from 5.04 percent.

Credit-card profits have been under pressure this year as the jobless rate climbed to 9.4 percent in May, the highest since 1983. Overdue payments historically rise and fall with the U.S. unemployment rate because consumers are more prone to default when they lose their jobs.

Capital One estimated the charge-off rate was understated by about half a percentage point. A surge in the number of bankruptcies delayed processing of that data, the bank said.

Charge-offs for international loans advanced to 9.77 percent from 8.91 percent, and auto finance climbed to 3.62 percent from 3.46 percent.

The charges reflect the cost of soured loans that the lender expects will never be repaid. Data include U.S. loans that card companies retain on their books and those that have been sold to investors.

Capital One plans to repay $3.6 billion to the U.S. bank rescue fund after U.S. stress tests found the company didn’t need to raise any more capital. The lender fell 17 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $23.77 at 10:23 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares lost 25 percent this year through last week.

To contact the reporter on this story: Peter Eichenbaum in New York at peichenbaum@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 15, 2009 10:47 EDT