American Express Co., the fourth largest U.S. credit card company, said on Thursday that first-quarter profit rose, helped by higher card holder spending.
The New York-based company said net income rose to $1.057 billion, or 87 cents a share, from $873 million, or 69 cents a share, in the year-ago period.
Analysts on average had expected earnings of 79 cents a share before one-time items, according to Reuters Estimates.
Revenue, net of interest expense, rose 10 percent to $6.67 billion.
Total cards in force rose 10 percent to 79.9 million from last year’s first quarter. Average basic cardmember spending rose 8 percent to $2,817.
Credit card issuers including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. have reported slightly higher first-quarter credit losses from cards, after unusually low losses in the first quarter of 2006 following stricter bankruptcy legislation. But credit card losses on the whole seem to be within or below historical averages, analysts have said.
Shares of American Express have fallen nearly 3 percent this year, while the Dow Jones U.S. Consumer Finance index is essentially unchanged.
