Higher Member Spending Bolsters AmEx -- WSJ
19 April 2019 - 5:02PM
Dow Jones News
By Kimberly Chin
This article is being republished as part of our daily
reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S.
print edition of The Wall Street Journal (April 19, 2019).
Higher card-member spending and borrowing helped boost revenue
at American Express Co., despite higher expenses from its rewards
program and loans.
Revenue, net of interest expense, rose 6.6% to $10.36 billion in
the first quarter. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv expected $10.44
billion in revenue for the quarter.
Discount revenue, which reflects the fees charged to merchants
for accepting AmEx cards, brought in $6.19 billion for the quarter,
a 5.2% increase from a year ago. Analysts expected $6.3 billion
from discount fees.
Card-members rewards, the company's largest single expense that
includes such things as points redeemed for hotels and airfare,
rose 4% to $2.45 billion.
Though card-member loans also grew by 5% for the quarter, the
company generated $2.73 billion from interest on loans, up 17% from
the year prior. AmEx has been promoting lending to its card-member
base in recent years to help boost revenue following the loss of
card partnerships, including that with Costco Wholesale Corp. AmEx
executives have said they are courting more creditworthy consumers
who tend to carry balances on their credit cards rather than pay
their bills in full each month.
Partnerships have been key to driving more customers to its
network. In the last quarter, AmEx had extended its partnership
with Delta Air Lines Inc., its largest cobranded partnership. The
company has said the Delta partnership has brought in more than 1
million new accounts over the past two years and has generated
significant revenue and earnings to both companies.
AmEx, which has been building its reserves for possible losses,
said it had $809 million provision for losses in the quarter, a 4%
increase from a year earlier.
Higher operating expenses also drove profit lower in the first
quarter from a year earlier. AmEx reported net income in the first
quarter was $1.55 billion, or $1.80 a share, down from $1.63
billion, or $1.86 a share, a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by
Refinitiv had projected earnings of $2 a share.
Shares of AmEx fell 0.8% to $110.82 in premarket trading.
Write to Kimberly Chin at kimberly.chin@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 19, 2019 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)
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