American Express Q4 profits jump 20% on card spending

By KEN SWEET
AP Business Writer

Credit card company American Express said Tuesday that its fourth-quarter earnings rose 20% from a year earlier, as eager consumers spent record levels of money during the holiday season on the company’s namesake cards. AmEx posted a profit of $1.72 billion, or $2.18 a share, up from a profit of $1.44 billion, or $1.76 a share, a year earlier. The results were far better than what analysts’ were looking for, who on average expected a profit of $1.86 a share. The company expects that the easing of the pandemic and the return to travel will boost its revenues in 2022 in a range of 18% to 20%.