Banking, finance, and taxes

How Near-Term Concerns Weighed Down Positive Earnings From American Express

Chris Lange

Published: January 21, 2016 4:47 pm

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 2:44 pm

American Express (NYSE: AXP) released its fourth quarter earnings report Thursday after the markets closed. The company had $1.23 in earnings per share (EPS) on $8.39 billion in revenue versus Thomson Reuters consensus estimates that called for $1.13 in EPS on $8.34 billion in revenue. The same period from the previous year had $1.22 in EPS on $8.39 billion in revenue.

It’s worth noting that this quarter the strong appreciation of the U.S. dollar had an impact on revenues and expenses and suppressed earnings in both quarters, not to mention there was a restructuring charge of $313 million ($206 million after-tax).

Excluding the impact of foreign exchange rates and the Concur gain, revenues increased 4%. The increase primarily reflected continued growth in net interest income and higher spending.

The company’s return on average equity (ROE) was 24.0%, down from 29.1% a year ago. Excluding the enterprise growth (EG) group charge, adjusted ROE was 25.6%.

As for guidance for the 2016 full year, the company expects EPS in the range of $5.40 to $5.70 compared to the consensus estimate of $5.41 in EPS.

Kenneth I. Chenault, Chairman and CEO of American Express, commented on the outlook:

A number of cyclical factors in the broader economy have also weighed on our performance and influenced our outlook. Against that backdrop, and the fact that revenue growth has not accelerated as we anticipated, we are moving aggressively to streamline the company and drive efficiencies in order to take out $1 billion from our overall cost base by the end of 2017.

In terms of its segments American Express reported:

• U.S. Card Services reported fourth-quarter net income of $799 million, up 20% from $665 million a year ago.
• International Card Services reported fourth-quarter net income of $73 million, up from $33 million a year ago.
• Global Commercial Services reported fourth-quarter net income of $132 million, down 78% from $594 million a year ago, which included the Concur gain.
• Global Network & Merchant Services reported fourth-quarter net income of $417 million, unchanged from a year ago.
• Corporate and Other reported fourth-quarter net loss of $522 million, which included the EG group charge. This compared to a net loss of $262 million a year ago.

Shares of Amex closed Thursday up 0.6% at $62.64, with a consensus analyst price target of $78.40 and a 52-week trading range of $61.29 to $86.18. Following the release of the earnings report, the stock was down 2% at $61.40 in the after-hours trading session.