8-K

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d)

OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

March 15, 2018

Date of Report

(Date of earliest event reported)

SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware	001-36560	51-0483352
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)	(Commission File Number)	(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

777 Long Ridge Road, Stamford, Connecticut	06902
(Address of principal executive offices)	(Zip Code)

(203) 585-2400

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

N/A

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

¨ Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

¨ Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

¨ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

¨ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).

Emerging growth company o

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.    ¨

Item 7.01 Regulation FD Disclosure.

Synchrony Financial (the “Company”) hereby furnishes the information in Exhibit 99.1 hereto, Monthly Charge-Off and Delinquency Statistics as of and for each of the thirteen months ended February 28, 2018.

The Company intends to continue to furnish these statistics on a monthly basis, noting that for the last month of each calendar quarter, the statistics will be furnished contemporaneously with the Company’s announcement of its financial results for suchquarter.

The information contained in this Item 7.01 of this Current Report on Form 8-K, including Exhibit 99.1, is furnished pursuant to Item 7.01 of Form 8-K and shall not be deemed to be “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section, nor shall it be deemed incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, except as shall be expressly stated by specific reference in such filing.

Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) Exhibits

The following exhibits are being furnished as part of this report:

Number	Description
99.1	Monthly Charge-off and Delinquency Statistics as of and for each of the thirteen months ended February 28, 2018

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

	SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
Date: March 15, 2018	By:	/s/ Jonathan Mothner
	Name:	Jonathan Mothner
	Title:	Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary

EXHIBIT INDEX

Number	Description
99.1	Monthly Charge-off and Delinquency Statistics as of and for each of the thirteen months ended February 28, 2018

EX-99.1

Exhibit 99.1

SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
MONTHLY CHARGE-OFF AND DELINQUENCY STATISTICS
AS OF AND FOR EACH OF THE THIRTEEN MONTHS ENDED
(unaudited, $ in billions)
The following table provides monthly charge-off and delinquency statistics as of and for each of the thirteen months ended February 28, 2018. The increase in net charge-offs for the month ended February 28, 2018 compared to the prior year was primarily due to credit normalization, as well as lower recoveries due to a reduction in sales of charged-off accounts. There is no change to the Company's expectations for both our net charge-off rate for the year ended December 31, 2018 and our loan loss reserve build in the first quarter of 2018 from the outlook provided during the Company’s 4Q 2017 earnings conference call held on January 19, 2018.
	Feb 28, 2018			Jan 31, 2018			Dec 31, 2017			Nov 30, 2017			Oct 31, 2017			Sep 30, 2017			Aug 31, 2017			Jul 31, 2017			Jun 30, 2017			May 31, 2017			Apr 30, 2017			Mar 31, 2017			Feb 28, 2017
Period-end loan receivables	$	78.4		$	80.1		$	81.9		$	79.5		$	77.4		$	76.9		$	76.8		$	76.2		$	75.5		$	75.0		$	73.8		$	73.4		$	73.7
Average loan receivables, including held for sale	$	79.1		$	80.6		$	80.6		$	77.7		$	76.8		$	76.8		$	76.1		$	75.6		$	75.1		$	73.8		$	73.4		$	73.0		$	74.2
30+ days past due as a % of period-end loan receivables	4.9		%	4.8		%	4.7		%	4.8		%	4.9		%	4.8		%	4.5		%	4.4		%	4.3		%	4.1		%	4.1		%	4.3		%	4.5		%
Net charge-offs (annualized) as a % of average loan receivables, including held for sale(1)	6.7		%	6.0		%	5.5		%	5.9		%	5.9		%	4.8		%	5.0		%	5.0		%	5.0		%	5.5		%	5.7		%	4.9		%	5.6		%
Recovery adjustment(2)	—		%	(0.1		)%	0.2		%	(0.1		)%	(0.1		)%	—		%	—		%	0.1		%	0.1		%	0.1		%	(0.1		)%	0.3		%	—		%
Adjusted net charge-offs as a % of average loan receivables, including held for sale(3)	6.7		%	5.9		%	5.7		%	5.8		%	5.8		%	4.8		%	5.0		%	5.1		%	5.1		%	5.6		%	5.6		%	5.2		%	5.6		%
(1) Charge-offs are executed on charge-off cycle dates which occur on various days during each calendar month. The number of different charge-off cycle dates in each month varies based on such factors as the calendar and the timing of billing cycles. As a result, the amount of charged-off receivables can vary between monthly periods with no corresponding change in the performance of the portfolio. The following table sets forth the number of different charge-off cycle dates for our consumer credit card receivables, which represent greater than 96% of total period end receivables at February 28, 2018, for the calendar months indicated.
	2017			2018
January	30			29
February	28			28
March	28			25
April	28			30
May	29			28
June	27			26
July	28			30
August	28			28
September	26			28
October	30			29
November	28			27
December	28			28
(2) Represents adjustment to allocate recoveries, including debt sales, evenly across the three calendar months of each respective quarterly reporting period. The adjustments for periods other than for the last month of each calendar quarter incorporate estimated recoveries for the applicable full quarterly reporting period. Such estimates are subject to change within each applicable quarter and may differ from actual quarterly results.
(3) Adjusted net charge-offs represent a non-GAAP financial measure. Adjusted net charge-offs as a % of average loan receivables, including held for sale, represent the Company's net charge-off rate for each month including the 'recovery adjustment' defined above. We believe the presentation of this measure is useful to investors as it represents a monthly measure which is more indicative of both our quarterly and annual net charge-off rates.

1