Consumers boosted spending with their American
Express credit cards, raising company profits by 1.9 per cent over a
year earlier, to 1.28 billion dollars in the first quarter, the
company said Wednesday.
Analysts had only expected net income of 1.12 billion dollars.
AmEx head Kenneth Chenault is cutting 5,400 jobs this year to
contain expenses, and the company will roll out a prepaid card to be
sold by Wal-Mart stores in a pitch for less affluent consumers.
"We made good headway throughout the business and continue to see
very encouraging customer response to initiatives like our reloadable
prepaid products and loyalty marketing initiatives," Chennault said
in a statement.
Worldwide AmEx card spending rose 6.3 per cent to 224.5 billion
compared to a year earlier.
