STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Friday, 17 January 2014

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24. American Express Profit Doubles on Advance in Spending

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-16/amex-profit-doubles-misses-estimates-on-lawsuit-costs.html

American Express Co. (AXP), the biggest credit-card issuer by purchases, said fourth-quarter profit doubled as consumer spending climbed.

Net income was $1.3 billion, or $1.21 a share, compared with $637 million, or 56 cents, a year earlier, when results were hurt by one-time charges including costs tied to job cuts, the New York-based company said yesterday in a statement. Excluding some legal costs, profit was $1.25 a share, matching the average estimate of 25 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

AmEx, the second-best performer in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) last year, is benefiting from a pickup in household wealth and consumer confidence that has propelled purchases on cards and mobile devices. Chief Executive Officer Kenneth I. Chenault is seeking to broaden the client base, signing deals with Wells Fargo & Co. and U.S. Bancorp to issue AmEx-branded cards.

“Results reflected a healthy increase in billed business in the U.S. and internationally,” Chenault, 62, said in the statement. “We ended the year on a strong note, with cardmember spending up 8 percent despite mixed reports during the holiday shopping season.”