American Express Backs Earnings Outlook Through 2017

By Lisa Beilfuss 

American Express Co. on Friday backed its outlook through 2017, though the company said revenue growth this quarter would be slow sequentially.

Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Campbell made the comments about the firm's projections ahead of a presentation Friday at Barclays' Global Financial Services Conference in New York.

For the year, Mr. Campbell said American Express still expects per-share earnings to be flat to modestly down. The company reported $5.39 in adjusted earnings per share last year. Analysts, according to Thomson Reuters, have predicted an increase to $5.49 this year.

Expectations for a return to per-share earnings growth in 2016 and for growth of 12% to 15% in 2017 "remains appropriate," said Mr. Campbell, who added that the company is likely to have "more unevenness in our performance from quarter to quarter than has been typical of our business."

For the current quarter, Mr. Campbell said that foreign-exchange-adjusted billings growth may decline modestly from the second quarter. Revenue growth this quarter will be slower than in the June period, when the card company reported $8.28 billion in sales.

Write to Lisa Beilfuss at [e-mail]

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 18, 2015 12:15 ET (16:15 GMT)

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