Dallas, Texas 10/25/2013 (Financialstrend) – Last week American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) announced robust results from its third quarter operations. It was able to grow its earnings per share by 15% to $1.25 per share. This was $0.03 more than what analysts were expecting from this $86.89 billion market capitalized credit services provider. Revenue for the quarter came in at $8.3 billion which grew by 6% in comparison to 3Q12.
In a clear sign of the credit card major’s market mojjos are intact, it reported new cards issued to customers went up by 7% in the quarter ending September 30 in comparison to FY12 3Q. The new member acquisition has come at a cost of $2.7 billion which represents a 4% increase in marketing expenses compared to previous year’s 3Q expense. The increase in user base has led to a substantive 12% increase in net income generated by the card services division. This data supports various other findings which have been reporting a increase in consumer confidence over the past quarter. The income from this division was pegged at $782 million. The credit card major was able to record an 8% uptake on spending per card member.
Card Services net income of $782M up 12% Y/Y, with 8% increase in card member spending and a rise in interest income thanks to 4% growth in card loans. The down side in the earnings report came in from the “International Card Services” segment. This recorded a dip in net income by 13% and came in at $142M. The significant stand out growth was established by its “Global Commercial Services” division which saw its net income balloon up by 43%. This was achieved by growing the divisions business up by 6%.
At close of business on October 24, the stock was trading at $80.9 per share which translates to a 6.78% increase in value over the past month.
