CORRECTED - UPDATE 2-Capital One posts $608 mln second quarter profit

(Corrects headline to read $608 mln, instead of $608)

* Q2 net income $608 mln vs year ago loss of $277 mln

* Q2 EPS of $1.33 vs year ago loss of 66 cents/shr (Adds estimate, information on provisions and charge-offs)

NEW YORK, July 22 (Reuters) - Capital One Financial Corp (COF.N) a credit card issuer and bank, posted on Thursday second-quarter profit of $608 million as the company set aside less money to cover bad loans.

The McLean, Virginia-based company had a net profit of $1.33 per share, well above analysts' average forecast for a profit of 88 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates. In the same quarter last year, Capital One had a net loss of $277 million, or 66 cents a share.

Capital One set aside $723 million to cover loan losses, compared with $1.9 billion in the same quarter last year.

Lower loss provisions came as Capital One wrote off fewer loans as uncollectible, compared with the first quarter of 2010.

The company wrote off its U.S. credit card loans at a 9.49 percent rate, annualized, down from 10.48 percent in the first quarter. (Reporting by Dan Wilchins and Maria Aspan; editing by Carol Bishopric)