American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) released its first-quarter earnings report after the markets closed on Wednesday. The company had $1.45 in earnings per share (EPS) on $8.09 billion in revenue versus Thomson Reuters consensus estimates that called for $1.35 in EPS on $7.99 billion in revenue. The same period from last year had $1.48 in EPS on $7.95 billion in revenue.

During this quarter, investment spending was up significantly, reflecting what management believes to be initiatives to grow the business by expanding its membership base and gaining a greater share of their overall spending and borrowing.

The company added 3 million new proprietary cards this quarter, with almost two thirds of the consumer acquisitions coming through digital channels. The underlying loan portfolio grew 11%.

Amex reported the following segment results:

• U.S. Card Services reported first-quarter net income of $694 million, up 5% from $659 million a year ago.
• International Card Services reported first-quarter net income of $188 million, down 5% from $197 million a year ago.
• Global Commercial Services reported first-quarter net income of $485 million, down 6% from $517 million a year ago.
• Global Network & Merchant Services reported first-quarter net income of $357 million, down from $369 million a year ago.
• Corporate and Other reported first-quarter net loss of $298 million. This compared to a net loss of $217 million a year ago.

Kenneth I. Chenault, Chairman and CEO of Amex, commented:

First quarter results were in line with the financial outlook we provided last month at our Investor Day. Despite strong competition throughout the payments industry, we generated a 4% increase in FX-adjusted revenues. Those revenues reflected strong, underlying growth in our lending portfolio, along with higher Card Member spending and fee income. Our 6 percent rise in Card Member spending was partially offset by a lower merchant discount rate and the higher costs associated with cash back rewards.

On the books, the company had $25 billion in cash and cash equivalents at the end of the quarter compared to $24 billion in the same period last year.

Shares of Amex closed Wednesday up 2.3% at $65.02, with a consensus analyst price target of $64.57 and a 52-week trading range of $50.27 to $81.92. Following the release of the earnings report the stock was up 3.3% at $67.16 in the after-hours trading session.

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