American Express Co. continued to benefit from strong spending growth in the latest quarter with particular momentum in the travel and entertainment categories. The card giant on Thursday morning posted first-quarter net income of $1.8 billion, or $2.40 a share, down from $2.1 billion, or $2.73 a share, in the year-earlier period. The FactSet consensus called for earnings of $2.66 a share.
Amex
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logged $14.3 billion in total revenues net of interest expense in the first quarter, beating the consensus analyst expectation, which foresaw revenue of $14 billion. In the year-ago period, Amex notched $11.7 billion in quarterly revenue. Chief Executive Stephen Squeri called out “particularly robust” spending on travel and entertainment in Amex’s earnings release. The company benefited from a 16% boost in card-member spending on a currency-neutral basis in the quarter, while witnessing the addition of 3.4 million new proprietary cards. Amex saw record quarterly account acquisitions for its U.S. Consumer Platinum and Gold, U.S. Business Platinum and Delta co-brand cards. Millennial and Gen Z customers made up more than 60% of the company’s new consumer accounts during the period. The company posted a 22% bump in consolidated expenses during the quarter, reflecting “higher customer engagement costs, driven by higher network v …
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