American Express: quarterly earnings beat consensus

(CercleFinance.com) - US credit card issuer American Express posted weaker fourth-quarter net profit on Friday, on the back of rising provisions and expenses.


The third largest credit card network, after Visa and MasterCard posted fourth-quarter profit of 1.7 billion dollars, or 2.03 dollars a share, down from 2 billion dollars, or 1.74 dollar, a share a year earlier.

This is still two cents above the consensus.

Revenue rose 9% to 11.4 billion dollars, but consolidated provisions for losses were up 7%. Expenses also rose, by 9%, due to a growth in rewards and other customer loyalty costs, as card member spending increased, as well as the use of card benefits.

Amex shares are up 4.5% in early morning trading on Friday. They have now risen by over 10% this year, outperforming the Dow Jones index, which has risen by about 2.5%.

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