Washington Mutual CEO sees no end to housing slump

NEW YORK, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Washington Mutual Inc (WM.N) Chief Executive Kerry Killinger said on Wednesday he sees no end to the U.S. housing slump and that the largest U.S. savings and loan expects nonperforming assets and charge-offs to increase in the fourth quarter.

"We were going through an orderly correction in the housing market until the middle of the year, when there was a significant falloff," Killinger said in an interview. "That has continued in the fourth quarter, accelerated by the lack of liquidity in the capital markets.

"We are not making projections as to when the market will stabilize," he added. "At this point, we have not seen signs of stabilization."

Killinger expects the thrift to set aside larger amounts for bad loans than amounts it writes off for the foreseeable future.

Earlier Wednesday, Seattle-based Washington Mutual reported a 72 percent decline in third-quarter profit, which totaled $210 million, or 23 cents per share. The thrift set aside $967 million for loan losses in the quarter, up from $372 million in the second quarter. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel)