American Express profits jump 34%, helped by jump in new customers, higher spending

NEW YORK (AP) — Credit card giant American Express posted a 34% jump in its first quarter profits on Friday, helped by more customers spending on its namesake cards as well as more customers keeping a balance on the cards.

The New York-based company said it earned $2.44 billion in the first three months of the year, or $3.33 a share, up from $1.82 billion, or $2.40 a share, a year earlier. The results exceeded Wall Street’s expectations, who were looking for roughly $2.95 a share in profits for the quarter.

The jump in profits for AmEx came largely from higher cardmember spending on their accounts as well as more balances collecting interest. The company had $15.8 billion in revenue in the quarter, up 11% from a year earlier.

AmEx customers spent $419.2 billion on their cards in the quarter, up 5% from a year earlier. AmEx takes a small percentage of each transaction spent on their cards as a fee from merchants, which was its primary business model for decades.