NEW YORK (AFX) - American Express Co., which specializes in travel services and credit cards, said Monday that its profit fell nearly 7 percent in the second quarter, reflecting the spinoff last year of its Ameriprise Financial Inc. advisory unit.
Excluding Ameriprise, however, its earnings rose sharply as revenue grew 14 percent on record spending by card holders.
Net income totaled $945 million, or 76 cents a share, in the April-June period, down from $1.01 billion, or 81 cents a share, a year earlier.
But the numbers included income from now-discontinued operations. In the second quarter, American Express sold its international banking operations in Brazil. In the year-earlier period, it had income from Ameriprise Financial.
Excluding those operations, profit from continuing operations rose to $972 million, or 78 cents a share, from $860 million, or 69 cents a share, a year earlier.
Revenue was $6.88 billion, up from $6.02 billion a year earlier.
The results surpassed the earnings of 74 cents per share on revenue of $6.64 billion expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.
In early afternoon trading, American Express shares rose 9 cents to $50.71 on the New York Stock Exchange.
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