American Express income grows 1 per cent, topping Wall Street forecasts

NEW YORK, N.Y. – American Express says its second-quarter profit rose one per cent, beating Wall Street’s expectations, after its well-heeled customers slowed down their spending a little.

The credit card issuer earned US$1.34 billion, or $1.15 per share, in the April-to-June period. Revenue jumped 5 per cent to $8 billion.

Wall Street was expecting a profit of $1.10 per share and revenue of $8 billion.

Investors had feared that Amex’s affluent customers would have curtailed their spending because of gyrations in the stock market during the quarter.

CEO Kenneth Chenault said in a statement spending among the company’s consumer, small business and corporate card members “remained healthy despite a very uneven economy.”