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The
company said it now expects to report full-year profit above its
prior forecast of $9.25 to $9.65 per share.
"The demand for travel has exceeded our expectations throughout
the year," said Chief Executive Officer Stephen J. Squeri.
Travel and entertainment spending volumes in international
markets surpassed pre-pandemic levels for the first time this
quarter, he added.
AmEx's revenue rose 24% to $13.6 billion in the third quarter,
helped by a 21% jump in card member spending on the back of a
rebound in cross-border travel as people shrugged off rising
airfare to throng airports after a long hiatus due to the
pandemic. The company added 3.3 million new proprietary cards.
Still, the card lender built provisions of $778 million in the
reported quarter to prepare for potential defaults, a sharp
contrast from a year earlier when the economy's rapid recovery
from the pandemic allowed it to release reserves of $191
million.
Shares of the company were down 3.5% at $137.50 in premarket
trading.
AmEx's expenses rose 19% as it spent heavily on customer
engagement and compensation. Last month, the company said it was
looking to hire around 1,500 people for technology roles, even
as other U.S. financial companies have slashed headcount in
recent months.
Net income rose 3% to $1.88 billion or $2.47 a share in the
three months ended Sept. 30, compared to $1.83 billion, or $2.27
a share, a year earlier.
Analysts had estimated the company to report a profit of $2.41 a
share, according to data from Refinitiv IBES. It was not
immediately clear if the reported numbers were comparable to
estimates.
(Reporting by Mehnaz Yasmin and Niket Nishant in Bengaluru;
Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
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