By Daniel Huang And Tess Stynes
American Express Co.'s first-quarter earnings rose amid higher
card member spending, though foreign-currency impacts dented
revenue.
The results came after a quarter filled with setbacks, the most
notable of which were the end of the New York credit-card firm's
partnership with Costco Wholesale Corp. and the loss of an
antitrust lawsuit.
American Express reported a profit of $1.53 billion, or $1.48 a
share, compared with $1.43 billion, or $1.33 a share, a year
earlier. Revenue, net of interest expense, was $7.95 billion, down
from $8.17 billion a year earlier.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected earnings of
$1.37 a share on $8.2 billion in revenue.
Struggling in recent months to keep up with its longtime
revenue-growth target of 8%, the company had focused instead on
cost-cutting, including announcing in January the elimination of
4,000 jobs throughout the year.
Write to Daniel Huang at daniel.huang3@wsj.com and Tess Stynes
at tess.stynes@wsj.com
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