(Reuters) - American Express reported a 12% jump in fourth-quarter profit on Friday, as more consumers swiped cards during the holiday season for travel and online shopping.
A strong holiday season against the backdrop of a falling rate environment helped AmEx sustain spending volumes.
AmEx, which mostly caters to wealthy consumers, has been able to better navigate economic uncertainty compared to some of its peers, as higher-earning individuals are less sensitive to inflation and elevated borrowing costs.
Billed business, a measure of spending on AmEx cards, rose 8% to $408.4 billion from last year in the fourth quarter.
The company's profit rose to $2.17 billion, or $3.04 per share, in the three months ended Dec. 31, from $1.93 billion, or $2.62 per share, a year earlier.
"We exited the year with increased momentum, with billings growth accelerating to 8 percent in the fourth quarter, driven by stronger spending from our consumer and commercial customers during the holiday season," CEO Stephen Squeri said.
AmEx's provisions for credit losses, fell to $1.3 billion in the quarter, compared with $1.4 billion a year earlier.
A resilient economy and a string of rate cuts by the Federal Reserve have eased concerns around credit quality. AmEx's affluent consumers have also allowed the company to scale back loan loss provisions compared with peers that serve a broad spectrum of customers.
New York-based AmEx's revenue rose 9% to $17.18 billion.
Smaller peers Capital One Financial and Discover Financial Services earlier this week also surpassed Street expectations for quarterly profit, thanks to resilient consumer spending.
AmEx shares soared 58.4% in 2024, outpacing rivals Mastercard and Visa's 23.5% and 21.4% gain, respectively.
(Reporting by Jaiveer Singh Shekhawat and Arasu Basil Kannagi in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)